


I'm Sorry (that you're an asshole)

by ToshiakiOda



Category: Borderlands
Genre: Abusive Relationship, Alternate Ending, Angst, Eventual Smut, Fluff, Jack is super cute when he wants to be, M/M, Post episode 5, Rhys is also a little slow sometimes, Rhys is always cute, Slight Anxiety, Slow Build, Sort of thing, Trust Issues, i mean not really - Freeform, im sorry lmao, just Jack being Jack, probably some slightly inaccurate shit going on here, rebuilding relationships, very slight enemies to lovers, we love him anyways
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-14
Updated: 2017-09-12
Packaged: 2018-09-08 11:37:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 27,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8843260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToshiakiOda/pseuds/ToshiakiOda
Summary: It's been two and a half years and the guilt was just more than Rhys bargained for. But he doesn't have to wait anymore. Jack is here again, and it's okay now. It's all okay ... AU where Rhys saves the Nakayama drive. He knows bringing Jack back from the dead isn't going to be easy, but with the man by his side, he's more than willing to try to make things right again.





	1. I'm So Sorry

Rhys missed him. He’d fucked up. He missed him and he’d fucked up. It’d been about two and a half years, and everything between then was hazy. He knew he was the CEO of the new and improved Atlas. He knew Vaughn and Yvette still worked beside him, and Fiona and Sasha had even come around too. They were vault hunters, though, and weren’t there much. No one was there much anymore. They’d tried to be. They saw Rhys deteriorating on himself and they tried to be there for him but he pushed them away. First with the “I’m fine”s and then with the “I’m calling security”s. He didn’t mean it. He needed them. But he needed him too. He would walk down the hall and see their concerned looks from the corner if his eye, though, and it was enough to keep him going. For now. But he just needed more. He needed _Jack_ , for fuck’s sake!

Rhys fiddled with the ID drive in his flesh hand. The Nakayama drive. He’d kept it, for guilt’s sake. He’d always hoped he could have it repaired and have any lost information in it restored. Naturally anyone that objected after finding out it was the Handsome Jack drive got a bullet to the brain. Rhys had become ruthless. Like a piece of Jack’s conscious had been left inside of his head and practically became a part of him. He didn’t mind. It helped him run the company, from what he could tell, and he really was just like his old idol Handsome Jack. “Like a champ,” Jack would have put it, if he were here, ruling the now non-existent Hyperion alongside the younger male.

He’d dreamt about it a lot, to be perfectly honest. Dreamt of standing in front of the huge window in Jack’s old office, feeling satisfied as the man’s hand would come to rest on his shoulder, giving him some snarky form of a thanks for being there and for not being annoying like everyone else on Helios. Rhys would smile, meet eyes with the man, but before he could ever open his lips to say whatever the dreamt up him wanted to say, the words “I’m so sorry, Jack,” would ring through his ears like never ending alarms. He’d wake up in a cold sweat, tears in his eyes. He wouldn’t sleep for the rest of the night, whether the reoccurring nightmare happened at midnight or four in the morning. The guilt in his chest made it hard to breathe. Hard to think.

“You did the right thing,” is what everyone told him. “Jack had to be stopped.” Did he? Had there been no other way? Maybe if it hadn’t all gone by so fast. Maybe if he would have had time to think he could have made sure Jack was still here. Maybe he wouldn’t feel so alone. Maybe he’d still have friends. Maybe. Maybe, maybemaybe _maybe_. Maybe … Maybe he could make it better again.

Which was why here was here. He’d used any brain power he had left and made a decision before he couldn’t take it anymore. He stared at the body that laid on the casket-like container and reached down to touch it, fingers skimming from cheekbone to temple. Cold. Not dead, but vacant. Not emotionless, but relaxed. It was … nice. And as much as Rhys wanted it to stay like this, he knew it couldn’t. He had to do this. He had to take whatever Jack would throw at him and bear it. He wouldn’t let Jack kill him, though. He’d waited too long for this. He would not accept losing what he’d just gained.

Rhys swallowed down his nervousness and took a breath, not letting himself hesitate too much longer before he took the drive and carefully pushed it into Jack’s temple. An intricate metal socket, just like the Atlas CEO, for withholding information. Only the information for the Nakayama drive, specifically, because Rhys would be sure to have the thing welded in whether Jack wanted it or not. This was already a risk as it was. But, he knew it was the easiest and fastest way to make this work. It’d already taken this long to repair the thing and make the body, he couldn’t wait.

He couldn’t wait.

He expected the awakening to be slow. For it to take a few minutes, hours, days, however long for Jack to wake up. Instead, Rhys hadn’t even had enough time to examine that relaxed face for the last time before he was being forced onto the ground, straddled, hands around his neck in an excruciatingly bruising way. And he couldn’t even find it in himself to care. He stared, brown eyes* wide, up at the man he’d admired for so damn long, who was here again. Who he could hear, see, _touch_. He’d never actually gotten to touch Jack, before. When Rhys got to see him he was only an AI. But now he was here, and even as he gasped desperately for air, he felt the emotions well up in his eyes.

He’d seen the other’s expression change. From rage to – still rage, but a dangerous amusement spread across his lips. Jack opened his mouth – Jack, who was here, who could talk and breathe and be _alive_ – opened his mouth as if to make fun of the kid, tell him off for being so scared shitless he’d cry, before he seemed to hesitate. To realize, and stay silent. Lighten up on his grip, if only just a little.

“I’m so sorry,” Rhys gasped out, the tears falling, down his temples where he could feel one stream skim just across the metal lodged in his head. “I’m sorry, Jack. I’m so sorry.” Tentative hands wandered up, wanting to feel Jack for himself, with palms and shaky fingertips, reassure himself the man was there. Jack’s eyes had narrowed, but nonetheless he moved his hands from a surely bruised neck to the floor on either side of the kid’s head, even leaning down into the touch just a bit as Rhys’ fingers met his cheeks. Rhys didn’t want to just skim his features, though. He’d done that enough before. Before Jack was here. Instead, his arms had went to hastily wrap around the other’s neck, pulling him into a hug tight enough to keep the breath he’d just lost from being strangled away. Jack had growled, a lack of trust since this is the guy who had killed him for the second time, before his shoulders grew less tense and he could only bring an arm up to wrap around a slender back to support the kid.

They’d continued like that for about another ten minutes or so, too. Rhys’ sobs slowly faded, only quick sniffles by the time Jack found his arm growing too tired. He’d moved from off of the kid, pulling his arm back, and when he went to tug himself away from Rhys he earned a quick whimper of “Please,” as the arms tightened around him.

“C’mon. Hands off, kiddo,” the man sighed, in which Rhys was hesitating before slowly unraveling his arms from those shoulders. He was scared. He was scared that Jack would stand up and just leave, right now, go right out the doors and never return again. Unless it was to kill him, maybe. But instead, Jack just moved. Shuffled over to the nearest wall and sat against it, bending his knees just a bit, before patting his lap. Rhys didn’t hesitate to move over, quickly settling into the welcoming hold and not even bothering to question why he wasn’t dead right now. He was happy now. Even if he didn’t quite look it, eyes red and cheeks stained with tears.

The CEO’s arms were around the older’s neck again, face tucked into the crook as Jack’s arms went around his waist. Rhys could feel Jack was a little uncomfortable. He couldn’t blame him. Rhys had killed him. Rhys was hugging him. Jack wasn’t good with emotional people. But the fact that Jack was still here doing this was everything. Everything he’s ever needed, was right here.

There was a while of silence, of Rhys hands sort of playing with the ends of Jacks hair, of Jack eventually resting his head against Rhys’ before the older man spoke.

“Was this your plan all along? To … bring me back, is what I think you did?”

That was a scary thing to answer. When that whole thing was in the process of happening, no. It wasn’t the plan. But as soon as Jack was gone, it was. Ever since Jack died, bringing him back was the plan. “Yes.”

“…And this is Atlas? No more Hyperion?”

“Yes and … not really, no.” There were a few Hyperions who had refused to turn themselves over to Atlas, and they’d made somewhat of a guild for themselves, but they were barely surviving. They wouldn’t last another year.

Another few minutes of silence, before Jack spoke up again. Rhys expected nothing else than the questions.

“Tell me then, Rhysie … Why … Why did you bring me back, huh? I was kinda’ … a jackass back there.” And the smallest part of Rhys wanted to respond with “No shit,” but he knew he wasn’t any better. Jack had begged for his life. And Rhys had ignored it. He tried to ignore most of what Jack said then. He hadn’t been able to listen to his voice any longer.

“Mmh … well.” Rhys couldn’t do it. He couldn’t say it. He’d played this moment through his head so many times but he still couldn’t get those damned words out of his mouth. He sighed, warm breath against newly warm skin, and he moved his hand to trace over Jack’s pulse point before manning up. He was the CEO of Atlas for fuck’s sake – but compared to Jack, he was nothing.

“I … need you,” the kid finally murmured after a while. He’d felt Jack tense under him. Not necessarily in a bad way, it seemed. The man tapped his fingers against Rhys’ ribs a few times before responding.

“Runnin’ the company down that bad are ya’ kiddo? I told you you’d need my help,” Jack laughed. Oh, that laugh. Rhys closed his eyes, biting down on his bottom lip and savoring the moment. Jack, here. Breathing, laughing, being an asshole. He’d missed it so much. “Yeah,” the kid responded simply, giving a small laugh of his own. “So … Will you?”

“You kidding me? Of course I will!” Then there was another laugh. “I can’t _wait_ to see look on their idiot faces! The king is _back_ , bab—“

“Jack – no. We can’t tell anyone, not yet. You’re not just inside my head this time, you’re _alive_ and –“

“Ooh, c’mon, this again? They’re gonna’ find out again anyways, why delay the inevitable?”

“ _Jack_. I –“

“Yeah yeah, okay. Fine. Got it.” He paused before giving Rhys just a small nudge, just a gesture to get the kid up, in which Rhys actually listened this time. “So what am I supposed to do? Stay cooped up in … whatever this dark and creepy room is?” Jack retorted, looking around. Dark grey walls, black, low ceiling, black floor. There were slim to no decorations besides the casket like thing in the corner and the only light was from the softly illuminated ‘AC’ design on the wall. Atlas Corporation.

“You’ll have to stay at my place.” Rhys had probably said that too quickly. He earned a cock of a brow from the older man, but he seemed not to mind too much in all, or at least he didn’t make it look that way. “You’ve got plenty to do, and there’s plenty in the fridge. If there’s something else you want let me know and I’ll have someone leave something outside the door. But _no one_ is to see your face, or to hear your voice. Okay?” He said it softly. Less of a command and more of a plea. He knew if he really started to boss Jack around this would never work out.

“Mhm. But can we like, get gone then? After being dead for… how long was I dead?”

A sheepish look, and an answer of, “Two and a half years.” Well. He was dead for longer than that, in all, but since the last time.

“Right. Two and a half years. I’ve been dead for two and a half years and I’ve worked up one hell of an appetite. Whatcha’ got for grub back at this place of yours?”

000

The trip back to Rhys apartment wasn’t awkward or tense like he expected. It was calm. Relaxed. Nice. And he knew he wasn’t the only one feeling that way. He’d take glances to the older man and see that he must be feeling just the same. His shoulders were slack, face relaxed – well, a confused expression would cross over his features sometimes but it wouldn’t last for more than a few seconds. This is what he’d needed.

He’d earned a little whistle once they got to the building – some complex that Atlas owned and rented out to only certified people – and Rhys took over the whole top floor, including the roof top. He’d showed Jack to the guest rooms and let him know where everything was, and once Jack decided to settle onto the leather couch in the living room Rhys was headed to the kitchen to whip up some food. He wasn’t the best cook, mainly because he’s never had to, but he thought this would be more satisfying than cafeteria food or take-out. And he’d been right, apparently. Once the half pound stake with mozzarella fries and sautéed mushrooms had been set in front of him (plus a beer, compliments from the chef or something), Jack was clapping his hands together and completely abandoning whatever he’d been invested in on the TV before.

“ _Damn_ , Rhysie. You are _really_ trying to make me feel alive right now huh?” The guy laughed, not wasting any more time before digging in. It made Rhys blush. So he simply turned away and went to go grab a beer for himself and quickly nibble on a few fries. His nerves were still too high to eat properly yet … Plus his throat still fucking hurt. He should be good in the morning, though.

He came back into the living room, settling in on the open space of the couch. Don’t stare at Jack. _Don’t_ stare at Jack. Shit, he turned his head to stare at Jack.

He looked happy, somehow. Well, Rhys guessed he would be happy for being alive, learning he’d get to help rule Atlas, and for Rhys’ sort of hospitality. And for whatever the hell was going on on that TV that had Jack chuckling so much. But … shouldn’t that ... be overruled by a few facts? Rhys had killed him and now Jack was forced to spend time with him. Hyperion and everything Jack knew was gone. No one could know Jack existed, again. Among other things. He just didn’t get it. Not that … Not that he was complaining, hell no.

“Take a picture, cupcake. It’ll last longer.”

Rhys blinked. Fuck. Jack was staring right back at him, amused ass smirk on his face, and he licked some sauce from his lips before shrugging and turning his head to the screen again.

“Oh, wait. I forgot. You already have those.” Jackass.

“Shut up. I just … It’s weird, okay?—“

“— You having posters of me all over your room _still_? Yeah, I think that’s a little weird too.” Wait. How did he even – you know what, never mind that right now.

“ _No_. I’ve just never met you … _in flesh_ before. It’s different than I thought it’d be.”

“Mmm, I got ya’ there. I really live up to my name better when I’m not completely blue. Just not my color,” the guy remarked, and Rhys rolled his eyes with a huff. Well, he guessed he had asked for this himself.

Rhys decided not to elaborate anymore, knowing Jack probably got the point anyways. He probably didn’t care, either. Settling into the couch a bit more, he tugged some of the extra blanket from Jack’s lap and into his own instead. He earned a quick pout, but no further protest after that. Rhys … kind of really wanted to snuggle up into the guy’s side. But now that he wasn’t completely losing his shit, Jack would probably think it was too weird, right? He should probably just go to bed, stop his brain from thinking anymore for the night. Yeah, he was going to do that.

“So which one of your little friends is gonna’ flip shit most when we do tell the peasants about their king’s great return?” Or not.

“Uhm … I don’t think I should answer that,” Rhys commented, as he matched gazes with the older man. Whatever Jack had been watching before had switched to something else so he must be losing interest in the TV.

“What? Why? What am I gonna’ do, huh kiddo? Go find them and take them out before they’re a problem?”

“Probably.”

“No, no no no. You’ve got me all wrong. I thought my obsessed little fanboy of all people would know I like to see the look on their idiot faces when they realize the mistake they’ve made.” Well. Jack did have a point. That did sound a lot more … Jack-like. Who would’ve thought someone would know their own thoughts. Just shut up Rhys, you’re embarrassing yourself.

“Fine,” Rhys huffed, waiting a few moments before he received an expectant glare from the other. “Fiona and Sasha, probably. They’re uh … vault hunters now. So …”

“Ah.” Oh. Jack suddenly looked pissed. Well, seeing as how Jack died the _first_ time, Rhys couldn’t blame him.

“Uhm … Jack?”

“Hmm?”

“I’m … sorry about Angel.” So maybe Rhys had went through all the information on the Nakayama drive and kind of learned everything there was to know about Jack. He couldn’t help it, and more than likely he’d come to regret it one day. Maybe right now, because the look on Jack’s face was pretty similar to when he had the kid pinned to the floor earlier.

There was a tense minute of silence, Jack leaned back into the couch and Rhys shrinking his shoulders down wishing he would have kept his goddamn mouth shut. He was sorry though. No one deserved that …

“Me too.” Oh, okay. That was … something good, right? Rhys was breathing. Okay. Good. But now Jack looked pretty miserable, and Rhys nibbled his bottom lip, wanting to reach a hand over to comfort him.

“I know what it’s like to …” Dare he say hurt? “… lose someone you care about.” No. He wouldn’t go there.

But as Rhys predicted, the other man’s interest seemed to perk and he took the opportunity to shift the subject as he moved slightly more tired looking eyes to meet Rhys’ again. “Someone you care about, huh? I’m touched,” the man snorted. Rhys sort of really wished he wasn’t actually talking about Jack right now just to rub it in the older man’s face. Despite that, Rhys was secretly happy that the man didn’t look put off by his comment. He’d been taking everything Rhys had to say pretty well and that was more than he probably could have ever asked for. This whole experience so far had been much more peaceful than he’d anticipated, and that was definitely good. “Oh. And sorry about your neck there, pumpkin.”

Oh, yeah. That. Jack reached over to tilt Rhys’ jaw a little to get a better look, and the kid didn’t protest. He saw the brunette crinkle his nose a little as if wincing to himself before moving his hand away again.

“Well, the good news is that if anyone asks you can just say you got a little too kinky, amiright?” The man laughed. Rhys sputtered and flushed, and it only got Jack laughing harder and dramatically wiping little tears from his eyes.

But wait. He’d paused. Jack’s fingers must have skinned over his new cybernetics because now he was thumbing the thing before looking to Rhys again. “… I guess we’re twins now?”

“Uh … Yeah. It was the easiest way I knew how to … fix you. Everything else would have taken at least five years or so.” And there was no fucking way Rhys would have waited that long.

“Damn, Rhysie. You’re like, making me immortal here. Gotta’ say I kinda’ like it,” Jack hummed. He seemed to hesitate in thought then, before shifting a bit and patting his thighs. “C’mere a minute.”

Rhys furrowed his brows, and Jack only rolled his eyes before patting his thighs again. “Get your ass over here, it’s not like I’m gonna’ jump you.”

… Alright. Okay. Jack was inviting him over into his damned lap. Again, but the first time didn’t count. Rhys was starting to think that Jack must think of him as some sort of lap dog. Well, whatever. Rhys tugged the blanket out of the way so it wouldn’t tangle around his legs, because knowing Rhys’ luck they’d end up in some compromising position, and he really didn’t need that right now. Wanted it, maybe, but didn’t need it. He carefully made his way over, hesitating a few seconds before giving a breath and just straddling the older man’s thighs. Whatever. This was fine. Totally fine.

“Your eyes match now,” Jack casually noted, reaching a hand up to brush his fingers along Rhys’ cybernetics. The younger man held back the goosebumps, somehow, closing both brown eyes as Jack did whatever. “Ya’ know, even after two and half years you still look twelve,” the man snorted, and the kid opened his eyes again to send a glare Jack’s way.

“I’m _not_ twelve,” Rhys practically pouted, arms even crossing over his chest. Which probably didn’t make him look any older but whatever. Jack just chuckled, hand going to skim over Rhys’ robotic arm now.

“Plain silver? I liked your old one better.”

“Yeah, well.” Whose fault was that? It’s like Jack read that phrase from the kid’s mind too, because he stared at Rhys for a good few seconds before looking to the arm again. “Wouldn’t have went with the new uniform anyways.”

“Uniform,” Jack snorted. “ _Yeah, okay_. Well, anything to get rid of that fucking tie. That thing was ridiculous, I mean really Rhysie.”

“Did you bring me over here just to criticize me?” That had been the third damn time, in a row.

“What do you think, princess?”

“Yes.”

“Bingo.” And Jack smirked that smirk, that wolfish thing that had Rhys’ cheeks heating up, but from frustration or embarrassment he wasn’t sure. Probably both.

“Alright, well, how about you just find some people on the TV to insult and I’m going to go get some sleep,” Rhys commented, as he moved himself from Jack’s lap. “Make sure _you_ actually sleep, tonight.”

“Yeah yeah, I got it _mom_. Yeesh.” Yeah. Jack probably wasn’t going to sleep a wink. Even if he wanted to Rhys doubted his mind would shut up long enough to.

Rhys headed for the doorway that lead to the hall, and therefore bedrooms, flicking the living room light off for Jack before taking a glance behind him. “I really am sorry.”

“… Go to bed, princess.”

“Hmm, fine. Goodnight, _John_.” Rhys smirked to himself.

“…Go to sleep before I knock you out myself.” Despite Jack’s tone, he could see the grin played out on his lips, illuminated by the TV. And it felt …. Good. This was all just … really, really good. And hopefully, it’d stay that way.


	2. Things Change

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes when you try to fix something, you only make the break worse somewhere else.

Chives … sausage. Hadn’t he fired the maid before Jack came around? Shit, if that chick was in his house and had noticed him … Blinking brown eyes open, Rhys let his gaze adjust for a few seconds. As good as it smelled, something just felt off. Rhys knew it must be the whole maid thing – but then again, no, he changed his mind, it was definitely the fact that Jack was sitting at the edge of his bed, hands on both sides of Rhys’ head and staring down at the kid like he was some sort of prey. Which he definitely felt like right about now.

“Oh my god.”

“Nah. I’m not a god, but thanks for the compliment there Rhysie.”

If Rhys totally hadn’t killed this guy and already gotten on his hit list, then he would definitely be slapping him right now. Oh god he wanted to slap him. “No, I – what are you _doing_?” Rhys huffed, moving his flesh had to rub at his eyes as Jack finally sat up, though he didn’t move from the edge of the bed just yet.

“Being your alarm. Ring ring, wake the hell up dick face. Go get naked and clean yourself up, the food’s gonna’ be done soon,” the man retorted, standing now and wandering a few feet away to stare at himself on one of the posters adorning the walls. “We should make some new ones of these once I can, you know, actually get to be a known existence. Atlas style.” Jack clicked his tongue once.

“Food?” Rhys questioned, sitting up and running a hand through his hair to tame it a bit. He wasn’t even going to comment on that second part right now, because … well, let’s be honest, Rhys would totally be gung-ho* on buying brand new Handsome Jack addition merch. Shit, that was an exciting thought.

“Uh, yeah, food. You know, the stuff you put into your mouth, then it goes through you for a while and later you gotta’ go and sh—“

“ _Okay_ , yeah, I got it. Thanks for that,” Rhys sighed. He heard Jack laugh from the corner of the room, while Rhys flung the blankets off of himself and went to go find some clothes to change into after his shower. And Jack was still just sort of … staring at himself in those damned posters, but the kid could only guess he was thinking about his past and Rhys really wasn’t going to bug him about it if that were the case.

Nothing else was said before Rhys ‘got naked and cleaned himself up’, as Jack had put it, and afterwards the kid slipped some black jeans and a blue t-shirt on before heading out into the kitchen. It had _smelled_ glorious enough as is, but somehow, it looked even better. God, Rhys’ mouth was watering. “You made this?” He questioned Jack, who was walking up to him with two full plates of omelets and toast. Explained what he’d smelled earlier.

“Yeah? Why do you sound so weird about it? I didn’t poison it if that’s what you’re thinking,” Jack remarked, cocking a brow as he headed out to find the living room again. Rhys was about to protest that he did own a dining room but whatever, living room was more comfortable anyways.

“Nothing. I just … I didn’t see you as much of the ‘making breakfast for my roommate’ type of guy … Reminds me of some sort of housewife,” Rhys murmured, a small laugh following which was quickly cut off by a smack upside the head. “Ow.”

“Don’t make me _wish_ I’d poisoned your food, kiddo,” Jack commented, as they both sat down, and Jack didn’t waste time in flicking the TV on. Rhys was surprised it hadn’t been on already to be honest.

“Got it.”

They ate their breakfast in comfortable silence. Well, when he meant silence, he meant not exactly. They didn’t speak to each other, though Jack would make some remark or yell at the TV and Rhys would only laugh or roll his eyes. It _was_ still comfortable, though.

Eventually they finished, plates stacked on top of each other on the coffee table. Both men had gotten a little more comfortable, mainly Jack, because Rhys had only gotten to lean back before the older man’s feet were over his lap, Jack stretched out on the couch like a damned cat. Well, okay then. This was fine.

“Can I ask you a serious question, Rhys?” Oh no. This was not fine. This couldn’t be good. Jack had even used his actual name. Rhys hesitated, though looked over and cocked a brow, Jack taking the hint and continuing. “I … completely turned on you back there. You know that, obviously. I mean, you had even said we could work through it and I ignored that. So why the hell bring me back here? Why would you trust me? To be here at all, let alone in flesh where I can actually tear shit apart with own hands now?” … Shit.

“I uhm …” Maybe Rhys shouldn’t answer. This couldn’t end well, right? He should just get up off this couch and head to Atlas. “I had nightmares,” he decided to answer with. It earned the kid a confused ass look too, but at least Rhys wasn’t being laughed at.

“Nightmares?”

“Yeah.”

“… ‘Kay. Go on.” So he wanted Rhys to elaborate? Wonderful.

“Well at first it was … everything that happened. Over and over again, every night for about three months. How you … How you’d begged me and … and how I just …” Fuck, he couldn’t do this. Teeth gnawing down on his bottom lip, he anxiously played with the hem of the end of Jack’s black sweats, since they were in reach. The older man noticed the effects of his question and he didn’t push it much, though it was still obvious to Rhys that Jack wanted him to finish as he leant up and got closer to the kid, silently urging him on. Well at least this wasn’t … pissing Jack off. Actually, not a lot had made the guy mad since he’d gotten back. It was definitely a change from the old Handsome Jack. “It’s changed a few times since then, and now about once a week it’ll be us back at Hyperion, working together like we’d promised. It seems okay for a while and then it just ends up back to … that, again.” Rhys shrugged, as if trying to shake the worry from his shoulders. Jack was here now. So it was okay. “Obviously _having nightmares_ wasn’t the only reason I brought you back but … you get the point,” Rhys finally finished.

“Righto,” Jack breathed. It was just kind of quiet after that, for a good few minutes before Jack spoke up again. “Let’s just … forget about it, huh?” He offered. “I went all crazy on you, you did what you had to do. But, you brought me back here and out of that shit hole, so that obviously means something.” It meant a little more than just something to Rhys, but okay, he could deal with this. “So whaddya’ say, huh cupcake? You wanna’ let ol’ Handsome Jack in on the Atlas train?” He smirked, holding up a hand to offer Rhys. It was exactly like the first deal, and Rhys wasn’t sure if that was comforting or not to be perfectly honest.

“’Atlas train’…?” Rhys repeated, staring at Jack’s hand. This was everything. Everything he’d been dreaming about for two and a half years. “… Yeah. Just don’t try to kill me again,” Rhys tried to muse, his hand meeting Jack’s in a good high five. And he had to say, it was a lot more satisfying this time.

“Ditto,” Jack hummed. “You’ve got yourself a deal, baby.”

000

After a more heated argument than Rhys would have liked, he was back at Atlas for the day. Alone. It had been easy enough getting Jack home, it had already been dark out and almost all staff had went home for the night. But trying to get Jack back there in daytime while no one knew about him yet, and he wanted to keep it that way? It’d be a nightmare. Naturally Jack had wanted to come in which is why their argument started in the first place, talking about how “if we’ve got this deal going I actually need to know what’s going on in that shit sack” and then “I shouldn’t have to hide anyways, they’ve gotta’ deal with me whether they like it or not”. And that was exactly why Jack wasn’t allowed to be around yet. People already hated him, Rhys didn’t need people hating Jack even more now. Yet.

So, they’d decided on a Bluetooth*. Jack could hear everything that went on around Rhys and could make comments to the kid without being heard. The guy had seemed pretty damn disappointed that both of them having cybernetics didn’t mean they could do some ‘cool telepathy bullshit’, though. Whatever. Who was really the twelve year old here?

“I’m going to hang up on you if you don’t shut up soon,” Rhys commented, interrupting Jack who had just been babbling about what exactly he was going to say to a few select people when he finally could. “I agreed to this so that you could hear some of the things we’ve got going on here right now, not so that we could sit here and talk for hours like two high school girls,” he sighed.

“Oh, _c’mon_ Rhysie. I’m bored as hell doing anything else!”

“ _How_? Have you even gotten off of that couch since I left? _Besides_ to get food?” Rhys questioned, cocking a brow to himself. Man, he was glad he was alone in his office right now. Obviously any person wouldn’t know who Rhys was talking too, but it’d just be a bother. And probably embarrassing.

There was a pause on the other end, before Jack was responding with an offended sounding, “Of course I have.”

“Right. That sounded convincing,” Rhys sassed, earning a growl from the other.

“Maybe if you’d actually give me something to listen to other than typing than I wouldn’t _have_ to sit here talking to you.”

“I never said we had to be on the call the whole damn ti—“

“Shut up. You brought me back here, so _your_ ass gets to deal with _my_ sweet ass,” Jack retorted. Rhys had heard a few more syllables come through before the large doors to his office were opening to reveal a less than pleased looking Fiona, who didn’t hesitate to stomp into the room.

“Hold on a minute,” Rhys murmured to Jack, lifting a hand to turn down the Bluetooth’s volume a little just for good measure before turning his attention to the raging guest approaching him.

“Heyy, Fi. Been a while. What is it, about two months n—“

“Two months, Rhys! Two whole months and me and Sash still haven’t gotten _anywhere_ with that damned vault! Weren’t you supposed to have some of your little Atlas buddies send us more headers on it? Cause we got nothing. Not one thing, Rhys. And you know whose fault that is?” She’d gotten all the way to Rhys’ desk now, hitting her fist onto the surface once or twice in emphasis. This was … not something he needed right now.

“Oh-ho-ho, now this is what I’m talking about Rhysie! Class A entertainment right here.” This was _definitely_ not something he needed right now.

Obviously not responding to Jack’s comment, the CEO cleared his throat a little and straightened in his seat, hesitantly meeting eyes with his friend’s. Or, he says friend, but the girl didn’t exactly look friendly right now, per say. “I’m uh … Look, I’m sorry but, this is _Atlas_ we’re talking about. We’re busy enough as is, we don’t exactly have time to get on our knees for some _vault hunters_. It’s just not us,” Rhys shrugged. And hell, did he learn that was the wrong thing to say.

While Jack chuckled and made a comment on how he liked the kid’s word choice, Fiona came around the desk and grabbed Rhys by the collar … What a warm return.

“ _Excuse me_? I’m pretty sure you, who has been ignoring everyone and done nothing but sit in his office for the past year, are _not_ busy. You’ve been moping around like some kid and you know what? I think I’m tired of it. All you’ve done is push us away when we’re trying to _help_ you, you jackass.”

Now normally … Fiona would always come in and rant after one of her trips. But it was never _about_ Rhys. Just about how bandits had stolen their gear or someone lost the map to this or that important place or something. But … this was … new. Jack seemed just as shocked as Rhys did, too, cause he went quiet on the other end. The kid almost wished he’d say something stupid just to make this awkward silence go away.

“I get that, Fiona, and that’s … thanks, or whatever. But there isn’t even anything to help with, I’m perfectly fine, okay?” Rhys was getting irritated. He’d become an impatient person over the years and with Jack on the other end, Fiona was pushing just the right buttons to get on the CEO’s nerves.

“’Or whatever’? Wow, Rhys. You know, I knew you were an asshole but—“ Rhys zoned her out with a sigh, as brown eyes flickered back to see the doors to his office opening again, a troubled looking Vaughn and Sasha entering. So his current assailant must have proposed coming in here to terrorize Rhys before actually doing it. They seemed to halt seeing Fiona already up in Rhys’ face, and he only shot them a ‘get her the hell off me’ look before glancing to the still fuming vault hunter again. “—makes me think you’ve got a damn crush on that dead guy or something.”

Oh.

“… Wait. Hey. _I’m_ a dead guy. Or was. Is she talking about me?” Jack inquired, and you know what. Rhys reached a hand up, promptly flipping off the Bluetooth as he stared Fiona down. He’d get shit for it later when he got home, but he just needed Jack out of the way right now. That hadn’t been getting them anywhere anyways.

Rhys’ eyes narrowed, opening his mouth to speak before his two other friends were quickly butting in, knowing where this would go if Fiona and Rhys weren’t stopped. “Fi! It’s fine now, okay? We came here and got the stuff we need, now let’s just head back out. There’s no point wasting time here,” Sasha quickly inquired, approaching the two and grabbing her sister’s elbow to tug her back. Fiona seemed to comply with a sneer, giving Rhys a good glare before turning on her heel.

Vaughn fiddled with this thumbs and gave a nod to Sasha who led her older sister out, giving one in return before the men were left alone.

“She was uh … pretty mad when she got back. I guess those files were important,” Vaughn shrugged, staring down at the ground for a few more seconds before glancing up to his best friend. Old best friend. They hadn’t talked in a while.

“Really? I would have never guessed,” the CEO answered sarcastically, rubbing at his temples. What time was it? He looked at his screen; 3:23. Part of him wanted to just head home at 3:30, and then he remembered, he had an angry Jack at home who was going to be questioning Fiona’s comment. He couldn’t do that right now. He didn’t really feel like being here either, though. Shit.

There was silence for a while. A few minutes, before Vaughn cleared his throat. “We miss you, you know,” he commented softly. Rhys blinked, but before he could say anything the shorter man was turning and heading for the door, soon out after.

“Sure seems like it,” Rhys murmured to himself, after a few minutes. Yeah, he was just going to go home.

000

“You hung up on me.”

Rhys knew those were going to be the exact words he was going to hear as soon as he walked into the apartment. He’d tried sneaking in, too, but Jack had detected him as soon as he tried to slip into the living room.

“Yeah, I did,” Rhys said, mentally cursing to himself. He’d tried to continue into the hallway but was stopped by a prompt remote control hitting the wall in front of his face. Which shattered on impact. Fucking great. “You’re paying for that.”

“I’m rich as shit. Who cares?” Rhys rolled his eyes. “Come sit, cupcake.” Jack still sounded pissy, so he really didn’t want to do that right now, but he knew he’d just be even pissier if he didn’t so he hesitantly obliged, taking a seat on the opposite side of the couch. Does Jack do anything else besides watch TV?

“Now. That thing Hat Lady said on the phone earlier, wh—“

“She was just being pissy, it was an opinion she gave on impulse. And obviously it’s not true.” Rhys had totally thought of his response on the way home. If he wouldn’t have he would have been a blubbering mess.

Jack paused, staring the other down. When he said staring, he really meant, he thought Jack’s eyes would burn right through him. This was awkward. “It’s not?”

“Of course it’s not.”

Jack pouted. Or well, maybe he didn’t, maybe that was just Rhys’ hopes telling him that. “Yeah, okay. Fine.”

“… Fine.”

“Fine.”

Rhys huffed. This was stupid. Like hell he’d tell Jack anything like that. This was _Handsome Jack_. The only reasons he wanted Rhys to fess up was to inflate his ego and make fun of the kid for it later … Asshole.

There were a few long minutes of silence, which Rhys realized happened a lot with them, before Jack shrugged out of nowhere and spoke up again. “I mean, I _was_ gonna’ say it was real nice of you, kiddo. Everything you’re doing here. Might make me take a few things into consideration. But if you don’t actually have a crush on me then…” Jack shrugged, again. “Eh.” … _Asshole._

Rhys stared, wide eyed, at the older male. What was that supposed to mean? ‘Take a few things into consideration’? As in … was he considering going out with Rhys if the kid admitted his feelings? Oh that was just … _unfair_. It was almost blackmail!

“Y-You … You’d … what?” The kid sputtered. Jack cocked a brow, glancing over, and it seemed he was a second from smirking before looking away instead.

“You’re not so bad, Rhysie. Kinda’ cute, great hair. I mean, you’re a little annoying but everybody is.” Was … that a compliment or … either way, Rhys’ cheeks were flaming. “Plus, you know, you kinda’ saved my ass. So there’s that.”

Shit. Oh no. This was so bad.

… This was so good.

‘I kind of did more than just save your ass’, is what Rhys would have said if this were any other situation, but instead he moved his eyes straight, staring at the wall. “Fine.”

“Fine?”

“I like you.”

“I know,” Jack practically purred. Rhys rolled brown eyes, per usual, but he moved his cybernetic arm up, hoping the cooler metal of his hand would help cool down his face. The older man chuckled at his side, and the kid felt him shuffle closer, until there was a hand pulling his own away from his face.

“You know how many people are gonna’ be pissed at you, right? First bringing back Handsome Jack from the dead and then becoming his right hand man?” And Rhys had a feeling Jack meant more by that second part than just a position of power … if you caught his drift. But he really shouldn’t think about that when the guy was sitting so close to him.

“There are already plenty of people pissed at me. A few more aren’t going to make a difference,” Rhys shrugged, knowing it was true. Especially with Jack here. He doubted the older man would let anyone touch Rhys. The brunette just seemed to give a small hum in response, which is when the auburn haired male noticed his … what was Jack? Friend? Companion? Coworker? Who knows. Anyways, Jack still had a hold on his wrist. Not that … not that he minded.

There was a while of silence. And not just two or three minutes like most of the time, no, it was probably about fifteen. They both seemed to be taking things in, thinking about the whole situation, not just the possible relationship or whatever it was they had going on here, but everything. In the meantime, Jack had taken the liberty of resting his arm out across Rhys’ shoulders, other hand not releasing his grasp on his wrist. The CEO had been a little tense to the touch at first, but decided to just roll with it after about two minutes. It was nice, but it was … strange. This was _Handsome Jack_. To think he’d be all sweet and gentle with someone else? Well … just because the guy was a complete raging asshole most of the time didn’t mean he didn’t harbor any … gentler feelings. He used to have a kid, so there was something. He’d went soft on Rhys a few times back on Pandora, and definitely a few more times since he’d gotten back too. He guessed the whole … raging asshole part made him overlook everything else, until now. Made _everyone_ overlook everything else. Jack was a great guy, when he wanted to be. You just had to ignore the uh … psychopathic maniac part.

Rhys was torn from his thoughts when Jack moved, albeit not much. The man had slipped his hand down a little further, grasping the other’s* and giving it a firm little squeeze before he chuckled. “This is ridiculous.”

“…What is?” Rhys was almost worried that Jack was about to turn and say it was all a joke, but he found that worry faltering a bit when Jack laced their fingers together. “You. This. Me falling for the kid that kicked my ass,” the older said. There was something in his voice … Resentment? And Rhys couldn’t blame the guy. But, Jack seemed to not mind all that much, as he leaned up again and pecked a quick kiss to the other’s jawline – something that Rhys had to tell himself not to pass out at before the man was sprawling out on the couch in his usual cat-like posture. “Be a good kitten and make me some lunch, huh Rhysie? I haven’t had it yet,” the brunette informed, his sweet state obviously gone as he smirked again. Great. Rhys rolled his eyes, standing from the couch though he decided not to respond verbally and walked to the kitchen instead. He had a feeling that was something else he’d hear when he walked into the house, too.

He’d gotten some ingredients out and started to whip up some simple soup and sandwiches. This was definitely different than he’d thought. This thing that he thought might be a relationship with Jack. There were no sparks or butterflies or mind blowing happenings, it was just … calm. Easy. Nice. And honestly, that was better than anything else he could ask for. He didn’t want it to be out of the ordinary with that. He wanted casual, and sweet, and relaxing. Obviously he still got flustered sometimes, and there were …. _Certain aspects_ to the relationship he wouldn’t want to be too casual or relaxing but, whatever. Doesn’t matter right now.

Rhys had heard some mumbling coming from the other room, and although he couldn’t be for certain due to the volume of the TV and his own noise from making food, he was pretty certain of what he’d heard.

“Who’s the housewife now?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Is this right idek
> 
> *I’m sure they have a more Borderlands-y word for this somewhere but I figured that I would have to go through like all the games to figure out what it is exactly. I would have said something along the lines of Echo communicating device but idk, I just felt it was too vague and so I left it at Bluetooth. Hope you guys don’t mind.
> 
> *Does Rhys have artificial nerves in his cybernetic arm to where he can actually feel things with it?? I’m not certain. So we’ll just say he can for good measure. ;P I would imagine he can I mean this is like the heaven of technology.


	3. Promise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhys really should think things through.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> /Slightly/ shorter chapter but I hope that's okay! Christmas is basically here and I've had another fic going that needed a lot of attention these last five days.

It had been two weeks since Rhys had brought Jack back to the shitty world. Rhys just found it amusing how his life started to work in two’s recently. Two years since he’d gotten Handsome Jack out of his head. Two months that Fiona had been gone on that uneventful vault trip. Two weeks since Rhys had gotten Jack back into his hair again. Well, not in his hair, Jack had been a little deeper than his hair before – wait. That sounded confusing, not to mention _weird_ – you know what, he was just going to shut the hell up now.

Basically, his world worked in two’s. His love life seemed to be no exception … ‘Love’ life. Didn’t feel like a love life. Not that he didn’t love Jack, and Jack didn’t love him. He was pretty sure the older man did, it was just … hard to tell sometimes when Jack was Jack. Nonetheless, not much had happened. He’d gotten more slaps on the ass than kisses on the cheek and the guy never stopped flirting with him, but Rhys guessed Jack had kind of always been a flirt anyways, in his own way. They hadn’t shared a kiss on the lips yet, and he was wondering if one would ever come – maybe Jack just wasn’t the … kissing type of guy. Which was uh … a little disappointing to think about, because Rhys was a sweet romantic at heart, not that he’d admit that to anyone let alone Jack. He’d just have to accept what came and forget about what didn’t.

“Tough shit, Rhysie. If you don’t show me around that place soon I’ll just show up there myself and lemme’ tell ya’, it’ll be a lot worse than if one or two people see us sneaking in,” Jack hissed, words growing lower near the end.

Oh yeah. There’s another reason his love life didn’t feel like a love life. Because he hadn’t stopped _bickering_ with this guy ever since he got back!

To be fair, Rhys knew it was his own fault. Figuring out how to navigate Jack back and forth before anyone knew about him was probably one of the first things he should have done. But he’d just been so wound up in grief and so focused on just getting Jack alive again that he hadn’t even given it a thought. Which was definitely a mistake, because he couldn’t take Jack bitching any longer.

“Would you just – okay! I got it already, just shut up, _please,”_ Rhys said, exasperated, throwing his hands up in the air before rubbing at his temples.

“As much as I love to hear you beg, it’s not gonna’ work this time. My ass needs to get access to Atlas, _now._ Either we waltz in there together like some honeymooned married couple,” yes please, “or I walk in there myself, probably guns-a-blazing.”

“You can’t go in ‘guns-a-blazing’ into your own damn company, that’s not—“

“Can’t I? Try me kitten.”

Rhys whipped his head over, just giving Jack a _look_ before storming into his bedroom. What a jackass. Okay. You know what? Fine. Fine, he was going to get into his uniform, and head into work. With Jack. He wasn’t even going to give a warning about what the fuck was going on, just waltz in there with Handsome Jack at his side and let everyone stare in awe, shock, fear, and disgust … Okay.

When Rhys walked back out into the living room all dressed up, he didn’t even have to say anything before the older man was laughing in triumph, and flinging himself off the couch and into the guest room to go find some more appropriate clothes. And yeah, of course he had other clothes. Somehow Rhys had thought to have some shipped in for him and even a new obnoxiously yellow Hyperion sweater made, surely last of its kind, but he hadn’t thought how the hell to get Jack to Atlas. Rhys was an idiot.

While Jack was busy Rhys made his way to the kitchen, grabbing up the first fruit he could get his fingers on. It was a banana*, so he peeled the thing apart and was ready to take a bite before the other walked in, clad in dark jeans and a light blue button up which he had yet to actually, well, button up. It made Rhys pause, staring for a good few seconds before Jack laughed.

“Now that’s hot,” he mused, referring how Rhys’ mouth was held open out in front of the ungodly shaped fruit. Rhys blinked, quickly flushing and not wasting time in sending the thing to the garbage before he picked a few grapes from their small portion of vine instead.

“… I thought blue wasn’t your color?” He countered, popping the food into his mouth as he cocked an auburn brow. Yeah, so maybe he realized little round balls weren’t the most innocent seeming food either, but he was just going to ignore that right now.

Rhys earned himself a shrug, Jack’s fingers finally going to work on the buttons though his gaze didn’t move away from the younger male. He wouldn’t think about how it was at least a little impressive. “Change of heart,” Jack responded.

Change of heart? More like, they’d had another talk about it and Rhys had mentioned that the man didn’t look so bad in blue. Jack would never admit it, but Rhys wasn’t _that_ stupid. It made him smile to himself.

“Now chop chop, let’s get moving. I wanted to be there like, two years ago,” the older man pushed. Rhys rolled his eyes, but nodded and got everything they needed before heading to the door.

000

Rhys’ fingertips were shaking. He had no idea what the hell was about to happen and part of him didn’t even want to know. He had no idea what would happen if anyone grew some balls and negatively confronted him or Jack. He had a few hunches, but those didn’t comfort him any.

“ _Relax,_ Rhysie. It’ll be fine! … For now. Don’t worry about it,” Jack assured, sort of. At least he tried.

The younger just swallowed, before walking into the – far too massive for him right now – building. Luckily no one had been around the outside, and no one seemed to be in the front entrance either as the two men walked in.

“No, really. Your face is paler than your ass cheeks, kiddo. You feeling okay?” No, before anyone overheard that and asked, Jack had never actually seen the kid’s butt before.

“I’m just … If anyone says anything, let me do the talking.”

“So, what? First we can’t tell anyone I exist, then you push me out of existence, then you bring me back but we can’t tell anyone again. Now we’re telling people, but I can’t _talk_? This is _torture_ , you’re _killing_ me here!” Rhys thought about mentioning how he could really do that if he wanted, but decided now wasn’t the time. Rhys didn’t know if he would _ever_ be able to make jokes like that anymore. Probably not.

Rhys didn’t even bother to respond. He just stared ahead, pleading to whatever all-knowing power that was out there that they wouldn’t have to pass a single person on the way to Rhys’, and now also Jack’s, office. Though he stopped mid mental begging as they turned the corner and at least three of his workers were littering the long hallway. Fuck. He sucked in a shaky breath, glancing to Jack who hesitated before giving him a nod, and they both looked forward again.

The first person to notice was the one that had been closest. Female, looked a little younger than Rhys, blonde hair up in a bun with a stylus run through it. Her outfit was simple but elegant, a flowy orange blouse and a black pencil skirt with dark grey stripes, the word ‘Atlas’ on a pin on her shirt. She looked professional. Well kept. But, her reaction to seeing her CEO and _Handsome fucking Jack_ approaching her in the hall, was well, anything but.

“ _Holy fuck! Oh my god!_ Lay me down in a skag den and do me sideways _who is that!_ ”

He heard Jack giggle. _Jack fucking giggled._ This chick had caught the attention of not only the other’s in the hall but also others that had been in the hallway’s rooms and were now peeking their heads out to see exactly what the hell was going on, and Jack fucking giggled. And no doubt, there was more shouting, and Rhys could bet that if he wasn’t the one standing next to Jack right now, there would probably be alarms going off by now.

The brunette was totally losing his shit at Rhys’ side, bent in half with one arm over his stomach, the other moved so that he could wipe tears from his eyes. He was saying _something_ but it couldn’t really be heard over that laugh of his. Which was totally killing the purpose of keeping Jack quiet to try to convince everyone he was just a mascot or something stupid like that.

Right, everybody was staring, he had to do something. He had to be the boss he was and do something about his workers. So, why not be a jackass about it, because if he didn’t let some sort of emotion out right now he was going to have a mental breakdown. Well, he was pretty sure he’d have one of those already, but it would be worse. “If my cameras don’t see all of your asses sitting back down in five seconds, you’re _all_ getting fired. _Now!_ ” Rhys ordered, sending a few of them the death glare for good measure before they all scurried away. He was surprised not even one of them had hesitated. Well, whatever, he wasn’t complaining.

Rhys barely even gave a glance at Jack before reaching over, taking a firm grip on the older man’s arm before tugging him along. He needed to be safely in their office, and yes, when he meant safely, he meant he was locking the entrance. And he did just that when he got them there, pushing a large red button before hearing the seal.

“You gonna’ let go of my arm yet? I think you bruised it by now,” Jack commented, only furrowing his brows when Rhys tightened his grip. He couldn’t let go, not right now. He wouldn’t be afraid to admit that either. “Hey. Rhysie. You know it’ll be fine, right?”

“Will it?” Rhys countered, hesitating for a moment before facing his wide brown eyes towards Jack. “People were pissed enough when you came back as a hologram. What the hell are they going to do now that you have a body again?”

“Didn’t you think this over _before_ bringing me back?” Jack questioned, looking around the office before walking further inside, forcing Rhys to follow after since he didn’t release his hold on the other man’s arm.

“No,” the kid practicaly whined. “I just, I had just wanted you back and didn’t think anything else through. What if someone really tries to put a stop to this? I can’t lose you again Jack, I-I—“

“Woah! Hey, calm down there, baby boy,” Jack quickly interrupted, tugging his arm free just so he could put his hands on Rhys’ shoulders. “You really think I’d let anybody hurt me? Or you, for that matter?” Jack had a point, sort of. Rhys knew Handsome Jack wouldn’t make any slip-ups anytime soon as far as the man’s own life went, but Rhys’? Well … they were in a relationship, sort of thing, so it did make some sense. Still, it was a little strange to hear it from this guy’s mouth. “Let’s sit you down kitten.”

Jack lead him to the main desk, pushing down on his shoulders to make sure he sat in the chair, the plush black leather feeling comfortable and the slightest bits calming underneath him. “Take a breath, pumpkin. Stop worrying about it.” The man was just layering on the nicknames right now, and even in his troubled state Rhys couldn’t help but find it cute.

While Rhys further sunk into the chair Jack had made work of shutting down any communicating systems so no one would be frantically trying to get a hold of Rhys and worrying him more. He’d taken the liberty of kneading lightly at the kid’s shoulders then, much to the shorter male’s surprise, but he’d melted into it nonetheless.

“I really can’t lose you again,” Rhys murmured. He’d earned himself a harsh squeeze of the shoulders then, wincing, thinking it was probably some form of scolding.

“You won’t.”

“Do you promise?”

The CEO was almost expecting something like ‘cross my heart and hope to die’ or ‘bet my life on it’ but it seemed the man wasn’t up for being that much of a jackass right now, much to Rhys’ appreciation. “I promise, Rhysie.”

The kid hadn’t had the chance to relax again before the chair was being whipped around in Jack’s direction, brown eyes blinking in confusion and looking to mismatched ones for answers. He didn’t get anything verbal, but that was okay, because Jack’s face said it all.

Rhys didn’t hesitate to close his eyes as soon as Jack was leaning in. He’d let out a sigh through his nose as their lips finally met, the older man’s hands resting on one of his thighs and one of his cheeks, Rhys’ going to wrap around Jack’s shoulders.

It wasn’t like every other part of their relationship. And it most certainly wasn’t what he expected. It wasn’t casual, or calm. It was cheesy, because it was mind-blowing, and exciting, and _good._ And the kid found himself pissed that’d he’d had to wait through two weeks of what he was pretty sure was them dating for this.

The sensual slide of lips had turned into the heated introduction of tongues, and Rhys moaned as he tangled his fingertips into dark hair. It didn’t seem that Jack was holding back much; nipping at Rhys’ lips, stroking his thumb over the kid’s cheekbone every few seconds, kneading slowly at his thigh. That plus the obvious make-out session was getting Rhys feeling a little hotter than he should be in the work place. He didn’t care to point that out, though, not yet. The kid knew this was more than just the heat of the moment; Jack was trying to distract him, and succeeding might he had, and he wasn’t going to take this for granted. He was just going to enjoy himself, which he wasn’t finding hard to do.

The kisses slowed until Jack was placing one last peck to the CEO’s lips, but Rhys wasn’t disappointed for long as he was soon met with the affections to his neck. He took a shaky breath, opening his eyes, as he let his hands wander down Jack’s shoulders. Holy hell this guy was good with his mouth – made him wonder where else he could use it, but he discarded that thought quickly. You know what, actually, no, he didn’t. He wanted this and they were perfectly alone at the moment so he was all on board for doing this. He whimpered as Jack gave a slightly painful nip near his ear, which was quickly relived with a few more kisses before Rhys was tugging at Jack’s shirt.

He wasn’t expecting Jack to pull back, though. He was met with a smug ass smirk, the man giving his thigh one last grope before he was standing. “As much as I’d love to just ravage you here, princess, I want our first time to be _extra_ special. No office sex for you – yet. That’s for the future baby,” Jack purred, making Rhys’ cheeks tint bright red.

“I-I didn’t—I wasn’t—“

“Shut up, kiddo, it’s too late to lie now,” the older man mused. “Now that at least _one_ of your heads is calm, what should we do about the situation on our hands, huh? I say it’d be easiest just to ignore things, let time take its course. People are just gonna’ kinda’ have to accept it, no talking them into it,” Jack said, like he totally hadn’t just made a partial mess of Rhys.

“I-I … I guess that’s … fine,” the boy murmured, knowing this was going to be harder for himself than it was for the other male. “Not like we have many other options.”

“Exactly,” Jack replied. “So, show me some of the stuff you’ve got going,” the man practically ordered, tapping at the base of Rhys’ computer.

And Rhys did, showing him all the current deals they had down on the table and what some of the certain circumstances were. Jack had winning answers for almost every situation, and the auburn haired male was reminding himself just how badly he’d needed someone like this at his side. How he’d needed Jack at his side. He’d start a war before he lost Jack again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *I know Borderlands has special fruits and probably other foods too. Just uh … just work with me here lmao. As much as I’d love to research when it comes to things like this my eyes aren’t the greatest so spending too much time on a screen doesn’t do me well, so I try to keep it minimal when I can. I know most authors just don’t bother mentioning it but I can’t help myself, I’m sorry


	4. Lost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhys doesn't know if he'll ever find himself again. But hopefully Jack can help distract him for a little while longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS SO LATE I'M SORRY. Sorry if it sucks too, I feel like I've been losing motivation for just this work but hopefully the next thing I have planned for them helps out with that.

It’d been three uneventful days since Rhys’ little panic attack trip to his work place. Or well, he guessed _their_ trip to _their_ work place. He and Jack. He’d thought about it for so long but now that it was real it was still a little hard to get a grasp on. The older man had insisted that the CEO get used to it and well, the kid wasn’t objecting.

Today was the fourth day of returning to Atlas, and Jack glanced over the guards to the main office before they were entering. “Those guys really necessary? You know I can kick anybody’s ass right?”

“I don’t _want_ you kicking anybody’s ass,” Rhys reminded, shooting the brunette a look at they strolled over to Rhys’ and yeah, now Jack’s too, desk. Jack never really sat there though, he liked to walk around and blabber on about shit and honestly Rhys only listened to half of it anymore. Maybe it was almost cute, but seeing as how he was mainly talking about missing throwing people out of the air locks? No thank you. “They’re mainly there to keep any of my – our workers out. Now that you’re here I don’t want anyone thinking they can walk in here for any information they please. Any real threats wouldn’t even make it inside Atlas.”

"Do they even have anything to find?"  
  
"I mean, not really. Anything I have about you has to do with the process of getting you a body and it's not like that's much of a secret anymore," Rhys shrugged. "But still."  
  
"... I still say any idiot that comes waltzing in here should have to face me," the older commented, and the CEO just rolls his eyes as he sat in his leather black chair, flesh fingers scaling over the details on the arm of it, before he was watching Jack take a seat on the edge of the desk. "I need a real nice introduction to this place. I wanna' have people see who's in charge now."  
  
"Uh, _I'm_ still in charge, Handsome Jack." The kid rose a brow, sending the older man the cockiest look he had probably ever given. "You're just the help."  
  
"Uhm. _Excuse me_ , princess. 'Just the help'? I don't think so. _I'm_ what's going to save this sorry damned company's ass. Do you really want me to start listing off all the problems this shithole has?" The man asked, lifting a hand like he was about ready to start counting on his fingers, and Rhys scoffed.  
  
"It's not a shithole. Hyperion doesn't even exist anymore, so I don't know why you insist on keeping a grudge against this place," the auburn haired pointed out, though trailed off just a little near the end.  
  
Oh. That uh ... That probably wasn't the best thing to say.  
  
"Yeah, well. Whose fault is that Rhysie?" Jack commented, standing now as he made his way to the large windows of the office. They were nowhere near as grand as Jack's had been, and the view wasn't the absolute best, but the idea was there.  
  
That comment kind of hurt more than expected, though, even if it was true that it was Rhys' fault. It was just ... He would have been fine hearing it right when Jack got out of the box, but now that they'd made up and seemed all buddy-buddy? Technically _more_ than buddy-buddy? Yeah, he wasn't feeling great right now. Usually he felt safe in this sealed off room of theirs but right about now he was feeling like some prisoner. “Sorry I displeased you, _your highness_ ,” he spat, standing from his chair. “I’m going to go eat.” He probably wouldn’t eat, he just wanted to get out.

“If you’re eating I’m eating,” Jack stated, and the younger male stopped his walk to the door to send a glare back to the brunette, who was already on his way to following along.

“You don’t even like the cafeteria food.”

“So the hell what? I don’t feel like being bored.”

“Well I don’t feel like having you around right now.”

“Should’ve thought about that before you brought me back here huh cupcake?” Jack sneered, and the kid scoffed before throwing his hands up in the air and heading out of the office again.

The trip to the cafeteria was quiet between the two, but Rhys could just feel the old Hyperian burning holes into the back of his head. It was pissing him off more and more by the second, but luckily he didn’t have to worry about it too much as they walked into the large cafeteria filled with a good amount of people. Slackers.

“Rhys!” Came a sudden excited voice, and before he could even look to his side to process who it was his best friend was quickly enveloping into a bear hug that was sort of squeezing the air out of him. “I haven’t seen you out of the office in like, months! This is great, bro!” At least someone was happy today.

“Yeah, hi Vaughn. I uh, needed a break,” Rhys said, flashing him a smile though his brows were a little furrowed from his lack of air. The shorter seemed quick to realize though, releasing the taller man, and he opened his mouth, probably about to ask what he needed a break from before Jack was walking up behind them.

“I’m telling ya’, you really should’ve thought about that sooner.”

“So, what? Do you want me to take it back? Do you want me to pull that drive out of your head and watch your body fall to the floor? Because I can do that,” Rhys snapped, looking back to the older man, who gave a look of disbelief that would be amusing any other time. It quickly changed to rage though, and Jack was sucking in a breath like he was ready to give one hell of a speech before they were thankfully interrupted by another voice.

Not so thankfully, actually.

“Well would you look at this,” came a scoff, and all three men looked over to see Fiona standing there, hands on her hips, looking Jack up and down in what was probably disgust. “So it’s true, huh? First he ruined Pandora, then Hyperion, and now he’s here to ruin Atlas too? It’s that just lovely,” she snorted spitefully.

He didn’t have time for this.

“Hyperion was my fault,” Rhys quickly corrected, which had the reanimated man looking back to him like ‘well what the fuck is the problem anyway then’. “And he’s not going to ruin Atlas. He’s here to help.”

“Help? How the hell could _he_ help anything? Are you forgetting he tried to kill you? Are you missing that bit there? Christ, it’s like pulling that little drive out of your head made you—“

“Fiona! I – I don’t think now’s the time to –“ Vaughn had started, glancing around to all the workers that had caught on to the conversation, but she interrupted him short of finishing.

“No, I think now is _exactly_ the time. He needs reality check,” Fiona commented, and it was only when she started taking much too confident steps towards Jack that Rhys’ expression shifted. Was she stupid? She knows Jack will kill her, right? Maybe that’s her point, maybe if Jack hurt her than she’d have a point to say why he shouldn’t be around – no! Rhys couldn’t handle that.

So he made it so that he didn’t have to. Without much thinking, he was reaching over to Jack, flicking the gun out of the holster on his thigh. He’d started carrying it around maybe two days ago and Rhys didn’t protest after long. As long as Jack didn’t do anything rash with it, but he wanted the man to be able to protect himself with more than just fists. And now Rhys guessed it was coming in handy, not that the kid wanted it to.

“I think you need to leave,” Rhys stated, pretty blankly as he pointed the barrel towards the brunette female. She gawked, offended, and everyone else stared at Rhys like he’d lost his fucking mind, because even the anonymous workers knew how Fiona and Rhys had been friends in the past. And now he was holding a gun to her head. Weren’t she and Sasha already supposed to be gone anyways?

After a few seconds, the vault hunter laughed. “You won’t shoot me,” she shrugged. “You don’t have the balls.”

Looks like he’d have to prove a point then. Moving the barrel about three inches to the left, he pulled the trigger and let the bullet hit whatever poor soul it came in contact with. There were gasps and a few shouts from the crowd, but other than that everyone went silent again. This wasn’t something he hadn’t done before, so no one was really surprised. Well, except Jack, he was standing there staring at the kid with a pretty unreadable expression but the auburn haired was sure he’d hear about it later. He couldn’t think about that now.

“Get out.”

He was threatening one of his best friends. He wasn't himself anymore. Ever since -- ever since then he'd just been lost. So lost. Rhys had been sure getting Jack back would help with that. But was it? Apparently not. He knew it'd take time, but how much time? It's already been over two weeks. He wouldn't be able to continue like this, he'd already been at his end when he finally reanimated the old Hyperion CEO.

Everyone stood there expectantly, and Fi stared at Rhys before a hurt expression crossed her face, but she quickly scoffed. “I couldn’t stand this place anymore anyways,” she stated, and made her way out of the cafeteria.

Rhys didn’t lower the gun, though. He felt lost. He stood there, staring at nothing, as his hands became unsteady and his breathing slowly became labored. Jack was quick to place a hand on the younger male’s shoulder, and as unsure as Vaughn probably was about this whole situation, he went for the gun and pried it out of his best friend’s hand before passing it over to Jack who placed it back in its holster.

The CEO wasn’t exactly sure what the money man had said, but all he’d been able to make out was the word ‘home’ before hands were steering him out of the cafeteria. By the time he even came to again he was already in the parking lot of their pent, and Rhys blinked brown eyes a few times before a voice was leading his eyes down. He was in the passenger seat of his car, and the door was open, and Jack was crouching next to him giving him an expectant look.

“Jesus Christ, Rhysie, I’ve been tryna’ snap you out of it for like two minutes. C’mon, let’s get you inside, huh?” The man pushed, grabbing up Rhys’ cybernetic hand to gesture him out of the car. The younger man obeyed, stumbling out of the vehicle and up to the top floor, and once they were safely inside their own home Jack helped him strip down until he was left in his button up and boxer briefs.

“Go take a nap, kiddo.”

“I don’t want to take a nap,” Rhys sighed, rubbing at his temples for a second before glancing over to the brunette. “I need to go back to work.” He wouldn’t say he _wanted_ to be there though, cause he definitely didn’t.

“Too late. You’re already here,” Jack commented, grabbing Rhys by the shoulders and turning him towards the bedroom. “You killed a guy, Rhysie. That’s like, tough shit for you, you’re probably in shock or some shit, Now go.”

He wasn’t in shock, sheesh, he’d killed plenty of people before. “But Jack, I don’t—“

“ _Rhys.”_

“But I—“

“Alright, you asked for it.” What the hell was that supposed to mean? The kid had glanced back, but before he could even open his mouth Jack had a hand behind his knees and a hand behind his back and was quickly swooping the kid up, causing Rhys to give a small yelp and swat the older man on the shoulder. “Looks like the king’s gotta’ carry his queen to the bedroom.”

“… I thought I was a princess,” Rhys muttered, and since he knew struggling would just bring both of them down he gave in and leaned his head against a broad shoulder.

“You were, until I married you. But now you’re a queen. My queen,” Jack commented, and Rhys actually laughed because the man sounded pretty damn serious. This was ridiculous.

“I have a dick, first of all,” the kid pointed out, earning a suggestive eyebrow wiggle from Jack. “And anyway, I think I missed the part about us being married. We’re barely even dating,” he commented.

“Barely? The hell is barely supposed to mean?” The older huffed, looking to Rhys with a sort of pout.

“Well, we barely kiss, we’ve never actually gone on a date, and we haven’t said … those _words_ yet,” the boy murmured, suddenly becoming a little embarrassed. Only a little though, and he told himself to man up and will through it. “We’ve never even actually confirmed that we’re boyfriends.”

Jack crinkled his nose a little and carefully (by Rhys’ surprise) laid the kid down on the bed, bringing the covers over his form before sitting himself at the edge of the mattress. “I thought it was obvious,” the older stated, earning a cock of the brow from Rhys, who’d already sprawled out on the bed like he was a little more than just comfortable.

“Not much with you is ever obvious. Unless it’s a question to if you’ll kill someone,” Rhys commented, and the old CEO made a face like he really couldn’t deny that one.

“Okay, okay. Fine. So – how about this. We’ll take next weekend off, and we’ll go somewhere real nice, huh kitten? Does that sound good?” Jack offered, and the auburn haired male was letting a grin rise to his face.

“Yeah. That sounds good,” he murmured. Sure, he knew he couldn’t be taking time off of work every week but he was the boss, so he’d get over it quick. And it’s not like he couldn’t bring work with them while they were gone.

Reaching a hand up then, he gestured for Jack to lean down some, and he propped up on and elbow to meet the man in the middle for a quick kiss. Well, he’d intended for it to be quick – but the brunette moved a hand to support himself on the other side of Rhys and pressed his lips a little more firm against the younger male’s, who grinned into it in return. It was a couple seconds before they pulled away, Jack’s free hand going to skim across a paler and just slightly flushed cheekbone.

“Maybe I should take a nap with you,” he purred, and Rhys rolled his eyes but scooted back on the mattress nonetheless. He didn’t care to hide that he watched as Jack stripped down, until he was clad in only his t-shirt and, of course, obnoxious Hyperion yellow boxers, going to shut the light off before climbing in next to Rhys and automatically pulling him into a pleasantly warm embrace.

Giving a little sigh, the younger man closed brown eyes as he felt a few kisses placed to his clothed shoulder. He was happy at that moment, that was, until his mind was able to wander again and his heart pounded remembering the hell Jack had intended to give him with words earlier before he’d been interrupted. Had he just forgotten about it? Had he just magically forgotten _everything_ Rhys had ever done to piss him off? Honestly, Rhys didn’t know how he hadn’t lost his head in his sleep by now.

The man had seemed to sense his sudden tense state, though. Rhys felt him shift so that he could probably get a glance at the younger male’s face, so he peeked his eyes open to meet mismatched ones, seemingly glowing in the slightly dim room. “Whatcha’ thinking about baby boy?”

“Just … you’re not going to like … Destroy me and everything I live by right?” Rhys asked, almost sheepishly, and earned quite the laugh from the older man in response.

After a few seconds of composing himself, Jack cleared his throat, only letting one more idiotic sort of giggle escape before shaking his head. “No, Rhysie. I’m not going to ‘destroy you and everything you live by’,” he responded, running one of his hands over the CEO’s side and letting it linger on his hip. “I already have my intended ways of destroying you but we’ll talk about that later.”

Rhys flushed. Jackass. God, they were all cuddled up to each other and supposed to sleep, how was he supposed to relax now?

“If you get a boner I’m not helping you.”

“Shut up,” Rhys grumbled, quickly shifting in the man’s arms to that he could face the opposite way, though didn’t complain too much as the man scooted even closer to spoon him, arm tucked snug around his waist.

“Hmm. Have a nice nap cupcake,” Jack murmured, placing one more kiss to the nape of Rhys’ neck before finally shutting up for the rest of their napping session.

Rhys couldn’t wait for that vacation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drama booooombs. ;o At least they get a vaca huehue. Also. If anyone knows a good place to purchase a Rhys wig or any pieces of his cosplay, hmu. The only things I've found are either inaccurate or expensive but I really need to get this cosplay going lmao.


	5. Getaway

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's vacation time, baby.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ITS BEEN ALMOST A MONTH. I really don't know where my motivation went you guys, I'm so sorry. It might be picking up though? Hopefully. Hope this chapter is okay too. Don't shame me too hard.

The rest of the week was spent rescheduling meetings and filling out any paperwork that needed to be in over the weekend. Jack had insisted a few times that they abandon it all and just head out early but Rhys had to remind the older man that that wasn’t very ‘rise this company out of the ashes’ of him. Jack would grumble, and begrudgingly return to whatever he was doing, and the younger male would have to hold in a laugh or run the risk of the guy canceling their vacation.

All in all things went well. Things went boring and things went slow and Jack bitched a lot, but at least Rhys didn’t have to run out any more of his best friends. By the time Friday night rolled around, they were walking into the main suite of Eden-5’s finest hotel. The younger male decided, as he looked around the large and decked out hotel room in awe, that he really didn’t want to know how much Jack had paid for this temporary stay let alone the whole trip.

“Friggin’ awesome, right? I’d heard about this place a few times but I never got a chance to check it out before I bit the dust. But _somebody_ thought I was special enough for a second chance,” Jack commented, smirking as he leaned over to press a quick kiss to the kid’s cheek before going to find the bedroom.

“…Technically it’s your third chance,” Rhys shot back, and quickly followed the older male along.

He heard Jack laugh, uttering something like a sarcastic ‘excuse me’ or something along those lines, but the CEO wasn’t paying much attention as they pushed into the bedroom and … holy fuck. The room was huge, decorated in dark blues and silvers, a king size bed plunked right in the middle. He … wouldn’t lie. That bed was definitely the bed that he wanted their first time together to be on. Jesus Christ he really was feeling like they were king and queen in this place. Not that he’d admit to being a female.

“Jack…” God, he didn’t even know what to say. A ‘thank you’? ‘This place is really nice’? ‘I really want to be screwed over every piece of furniture before we leave here’? Yeah, he was just going to keep his mouth shut.

“Don’t worry. Maybe I’ll let you thank me for it later,” the old CEO smirked, walking over to pry Rhys’ bags from his hands. The man set those next to his own at the foot of the bed, before seeming to make himself at home by flopping down on the large mattress, peeking mismatched eyes open to laugh at the younger’s flush. “Get over here.”

After just a second of hesitation the kid was making his way over to his boyfriend. Yeah, his boyfriend, with the whole ‘thought it was obvious’ incident Rhys figured it was fine to refer to Jack as that now. Though they hadn’t actually established anything after that time, the younger male didn’t really care. He took a seat on the edge of the bed, though let out a sharp gasp as he was quickly forced down onto his back. Blinking, he furrowed auburn brows and glanced up at the smirking brunette.

“Thought you said ‘later’?” The kid sassed, one eyebrow cocking up though he still let his hands reach up to wrap around Jack’s neck, who was half leaning over him, giving a snort in return.

“And I meant it, so try to keep it in your pants for a little while longer sweetcheeks,” he mused. “We’ve got shit to do, _fun_ shit, not all that skag crap you decided to bring on our _vacation.”_ Before Rhys could protest, state how important it was to start getting some work done when he’d been missing so many days the last two weeks, Jack was speaking up again. “And don’t gimme’ that ‘it’s important’ speech. I was the CEO of _Hyperion_ for Christ’s sake, I think I managed just fine by slacking off.”

“You’re _Handsome Jack,_ do you really think anyone would be stupid enough to tell you otherwise?” Rhys shot back.

Jack seemed to hesitate before shrugging, definitely agreeing to the statement, before replying. “True. But I mean, I’m here now. Again. So what’s the difference? It’s just now if they test you they test me too.”

Jack had a point, actually. The kid nibbled on his bottom lip, peering to the side for a second before meeting green and blue eyes again. “You realize I still get the heat after meetings though, right? And the phone calls. Even though I’m the CEO everyone still finds a way to give me shit,” he sighed, flesh hand moving to card through the ends of the other man’s hair. “I don’t know how you put up with all of it.”

“I think you’re missing one tiny detail kiddo,” the man laughed, as he carefully removed the younger’s hands from himself so that he could flop down on his back next to him. “I don’t put up with it. I shoot anybody that pisses me off.”

“I mean. I do that too, but there are kind of some people you can’t just—“

“Hah! Stop kidding yourself – there’s no way you shoot anyone else other than that poor asshole you shot today. Nice shot though, by the way – must be ‘cause of your little robo arm,” the guy commented.

“Jack,” Rhys sighed, turning his head to look at the older man, who in turn did the same. “I shoot people all the time, really. Like once a week, probably.” He’d killed plenty of people on Pandora back with the whole AI incident too, but that was at least a little different. Defense.

He wasn’t surprised that Jack just sort of decided to stare at him, then. Skeptically at that, and he’d continued to do that for a minute or so, Rhys glancing away to stare at the ceiling in the meantime.

“Seriously?”

“… Yeah.”

A couple more minutes of silence, and the older of the two males was giving a huff of a laugh. "Gee, and I thought I went through hell," he joked. "Literally." 

Rhys blinked. Wait. No, he hadn't -- was he serious? Wide eyes glanced over to his boyfriend, and it earned him a loud laugh in response. 

"I'm kidding, queenie!" Yeah, that was his knew word for the kid, and it was so stupid, and the auburn haired male fucking hated it. Didn't stop his chest from fluttering though. He hated that too. "I didn't go to hell. Not really. It was just like - I dunno'. It was like uh ... Black hole, I guess. I didn't have a way to tell how much time passed. Nothing to do. It was ..." Lonely.

And Rhys had put him there.

Fuck.

The CEO was bringing both of his hands up, covering his face. He felt like shit. He honestly had no clue why Jack put up with him, let alone _liked_ him. Maybe it was … maybe it was just for advantage? Maybe he just wanted to rule Atlas, get Rhys’ guard down before putting an end to him. That way he could still effortlessly run the new and improved company. At least he’d do a better job of it than Rhys. The kid didn’t know how he’d managed to keep the place on its feet anyways.

“… Hey. Cupcake. Whatcha’ thinking about?” Jack suddenly inquired. It was so hard, though. When the older man spoke to him like that and sounded so genuinely concerned it was hard to think this was anything but the real thing.

“You,” Rhys commented, not moving his hands, and he earned a chuckle from the older man.

“Of course you are. But. Why do you look all worse for the wear? You know I’m over that past stuff, right?”

No. He didn’t know. “I just don’t get … you realize you could have Atlas all to yourself, right? You could make it even more successful than Hyperion ever was. All you have to do is get rid of me. I don’t get it,” Rhys confessed, finally moving his hands back down to the mattress before he was taking a breath and peering over to the brunette. He watched Jack turn onto his side, facing the kid, propped up on one elbow while he held his head in his palm. He’d stared at Rhys for a second – for a while, actually, and the auburn haired male could only swallow nervously before his boyfriend was finally speaking up.

“I know that.” Comforting. “But I mean, I’ve already got the Corporation. And I’ve got you. I don’t see the point in getting rid of you. I mean yeah, it’d be nice to be the main guy to Atlas and all, sure, but … Kiddo, I’m Handsome Jack. Who’s been _resurrected_ for the _second time._ I think people are already gonna’ be pretty damn impressed,” the man snorted amusedly. It was true, but still, that whole speech didn’t seem very … Jack-like. He didn’t bother arguing though, just gave a nod before the older man was leaning down to press their lips together in a quick kiss. “Anyways, you’re too cute to kill. A pain in my glorious ass sometimes, but that’s okay,” he smirked.

“Thanks,” Rhys retorted sarcastically, grinning nonetheless as he rolled his eyes. “Maybe I want you to toss me away. I wouldn’t have to deal with you anymore,” he joked, and Jack gave an exaggerated scowl before moving his free hand to flick the CEO’s nose. “Ow—“

“Shut up. You can’t talk when you’re the kid that _brought me back form the dead,”_ the taller commented, which let’s be real, was pretty true, but Rhys just shrugged it away. “Anyways, I wasn’t lying when I said we had shit to do, so get your suit on cupcake. We’ve got dinner.”

“Suit? I—… Yeah, okay,” Rhys murmured, and Jack had only cocked a brow at him before they were both sitting up, finding their bags so they could fetch their clothing. More than likely, the old Hyperian CEO had some fancy dinner date planned, and the idea was making the current CEO flush. He’d never been on one before, and he just – he lost his shit every time he reminded himself that he was dating _Handsome Jack._

They changed in a comfortable silence, both taking glances at each other and grinning when they were both caught, but it’s not like either were embarrassed. They both pranced around the penthouse in their boxers all the time, and yeah, maybe Jack had gotten a glance at Rhys’ butt one time when he’d forgotten to lock the bathroom door, but … Anyways, it was comfortable. And he loved feeling comfortable around Jack.

The shorter man was trying to adjust his tie when his boyfriend approached, grabbing the thin fabric and tugging, making Rhys give a manly sort of yelp. Totally manly. He stared at Jack quizzically, but the man just chuckled and shook his head. “You friggin’ suck at tying these things, Rhysie. My guess is, you had that stupid ass tie from back in the Hyperion days for so long that you never learned to use any other kind,” the man commented, and the younger glanced to the side. “Mhm. Exactly.”

“I liked that tie,” the auburn haired pouted, and the brunette just gave a dramatic groan of disgust before he was finally removing his hands from the kid’s now straightened out piece of clothing.

“I’m sure you did. You’re weird like that. What’d you do with the old ‘uniform’ anyways?” Jack asked, as they worked on pocketing anything else they might need for the night before heading out of their part of the building.

“Oh. I just … threw it away,” Rhys shrugged, lying, though it was a believable lie and Jack just seemed to nod in understanding.

“Good.”

“…Yeah.”

After about a half hour drive in ‘Eden-5’s most luxurious and disgustingly expensive’ limo, they were arriving at an equally luxurious and disgustingly expensive looking restaurant. Rhys gulped, straightening out his clothes a little, feeling intimidated by the fact that he was about to be surrounded by rich ass snobs and overly romantic couples. Sure, he was a rich ass snob too. And sure, his relationship with Jack was probably a lot more sentimental than he cared to realize. But that was all beside the point.

The older man lead him in with a warm hand on the small of his back, which Rhys did his best to ignore as the hostess greeted them with a wide but obviously faked smile. The kid’s date wasn’t even giving the woman time to ask her questions before he simply said, “Handsome Jack,” and that was enough to have her straightening up and quickly ushering them to a nice private booth in the back of the building.

It was strange to think that even in a place like Eden-5, word had already gotten around that Handsome Jack was well and alive again. It was easy to tell since people were so obviously gawking, but Rhys was certain their reactions would be much more dramatic if they thought the taller man behind him had still ‘permanently’ died out with the fall of Hyperion.

Rhys sat himself on the comfy leather cushion with a sigh, a satisfied one at that. His nerves were definitely more at ease back in the secluded corner of the room rather than if they were in the middle of it. He wasn’t worried about getting service that wouldn’t be as fast back here – with Handsome Jack around, he knew the waiters and waitresses would be sure to keep a close eye on their very important customers.

When a nervous waiter greeted then with his name, Jack was requesting – ordering – a ridiculously exclusive sounding champagne along with some waters and whatever was on the special for tonight. Rhys was ready to protest, but honestly, he was sure anything that he ate in this place was going to be rich and perfect and mouth-watering, and Jack promised him whatever dessert he wanted to pick out anyways, so he wasn’t worried.

The main dish was something he definitely couldn’t pronounce if he tried, but he wasn’t complaining. It was something along the lines of a thick, creamy soup – even though there was probably a fancier word for it around here. There were different meats and vegetables huddled in the middle which he didn’t dare stir around to disrupt the nice display, and when he sampled the food he was moaning in appreciation at the perfect mix of spices that tingled at his tongue pleasantly. Yeah, this was … This was nice. More than nice. He glanced up to see if the brunette was pleased with the meal too, but instead was met with twinkling eyes and a wolfish smirk.

“Yeah. That’s about what you’ll be sounding like tonight,” he snorted, and Rhys sputtered, basically choking on his food. “Except louder. _A lot_ louder. Just you wait.”

After managing to sort of compose himself Rhys was going for his half full glass of champagne, brows furrowed as he stared at Jack and took a decent gulp. Tonight? They were … they were going to do it tonight? He didn’t know why he was so surprised, honestly, he should have seen it coming, it was so obvious. But still. He cleared his throat a little as he set his glass back down, ignoring the older man’s laughter and instead making a mental note to try and find this stuff back around home. He also decided to change the topic as soon as possible.

“I’m thinking about getting the Crimson Lance back on their feet. Just, you know. For totally different reasons. It’d be more of a lock down military than anything, maybe occasionally sending them out to bandit camps too close to our main sites. I think—“

“Okay, first of all, kid. Business talk on a date? Really? Second – you’re gonna’ make Crimson Lance, the second most powerful military in existence, soon to be most, into some bandit herders? You realize those guys used to work on securing vaults, right? I mean, don’t get me wrong, security for the main building and roughing up some stupid cannibals is fine. But, c’mon, Rhysie. We could clear out every friggin’ vault on Pandora if we did this right.” He was waving his spoon around while he spoke, obviously enthused by the whole idea. Rhys? Not so much.

His first concern was that he had no intention of letting Jack vault hunt anymore. He’d decided that from the start. It’d got him nothing but trouble in the long run. Wealth, power, a name, sure. But he already had those things now, again, so the Atlas CEO really didn’t feel like having his boyfriend _die_ trying to pointlessly pursue things. He wouldn’t dare mention it now, though. Not while they were on vacation, not while things were supposed to be the opposite of stressful. To be honest, it probably wasn’t going to get mentioned until Jack decided to actually start going for vaults, again.

Second concern was, close to the first, he didn’t want Handsome Jack more power happy than he already was. Having a whole military at the man’s disposal was … risky. He could put whatever general they decided to hire on Rhys’ specific orders, but if Jack found out he’d be having somebody’s head. There’s no way he wouldn’t find out either, because come on, it’s not hard to think someone would notice when this or that place weren’t getting raided and absolutely obliterated.

Instead, the auburn haired male shrugged, shoveling another spoonful of food into his mouth. “We’ll have to look into it when we get back.”

Apparently, that was a sign of confirmation to the older male. If his obnoxious laugh and fist pump meant anything. They both got to their meals then, their conversation mostly about minor details Jack had missed while he was out, how advanced the science department of Atlas was, some really fucked up but not surprising experiments the older wanted to try out, and so on and so forth. It wasn’t unpleasant, and basically everything he expected a date with Handsome Jack to be like, and he could definitely live with this. Could definitely live like this. With Jack, every goddamn day for the rest of his life.

Was it a few months or years too soon to be having those kind of thoughts? Definitely. Did he care? No.

They finished their dinners and were immediately relieved of any dirty dishes at the table, another person back in seconds to ask if there was anything else they wanted for the night. They got another bottle of champagne for the road, as well as a triple chocolate piece of cake with vanilla fudge ice cream for Rhys, and raspberry mousse chocolate cups for Jack. They split those half and half in the end though, both thoroughly pleased with the other’s choices until they were back in the hotel for the night.

Needless to say, the kid was tense. He’d definitely not forgotten about the man’s words from earlier, a practical promise that some form of intimacy would be happening that night. When Jack stripped down to his boxers and flopped onto the bed, much too casual in Rhys’ eyes, the slightly shorter male was left staring quizzically at his partner.

It didn’t take much for Jack to realize what was up, either, flashing that smirk of his and patting the space on the bed next to him after he’d moved over some. “You really thought you were gonna’ be getting it that easy? No way, pumpkin.” He laughed when he saw the younger’s expression falter, if only slightly, and it definitely wasn’t something Rhys was about to admit to. No way was he disappointed. No way.

Giving an annoyed huff, the CEO decided to strip too, really wishing Jack was stripping him instead, but he thought it wasn’t so bad as he laid on the bed and was quickly pulled up against a broad chest. Sighing, brown eyes slipped shut as he felt a peck to his forehead, listening to the pleasant hum in the taller’s chest as he spoke.

“Soon baby. I promise. I uh … I think it would be better if we did it at home though, ya’ know? It’d mean a lot more than some random hotel room so far away from us.”

Rhys blinked. That was … what? Shuffling back a little so that he could properly look at the older man, he laughed. “You’re serious?”

“I’m … uh, yeah? Look, I’m being like, super impotent right now-- … Not like – my dick is fine – I just mean, give me a damn break here.”

“Hey, I’m not – its fine. It’s pretty-“

“If you say cute you’re not getting laid at all.”

“—nice. It’s pretty uh, pretty nice.”

“Mhm. That’s what I thought cupcake. Now get some shut eye, your voice is kind of starting to annoy me,” Jack sassed, and the younger male laughed, giving the older’s throat a quick peck of affection before they were exchanging their goodnights and drifting off.

Yeah. His relationship with Jack was _a lot_ more sentimental with Jack than he realized.


	6. Get Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some vacation.

The next morning was a lazy one, as it should be. After they both had woken up they’d continued to cuddle under the comforter for probably an hour, and at some point Jack had gotten around to telling some story from while he was a simple engineer for Hyperion. Which was like, holy shit, a long time ago – not that Rhys said that aloud, cause he didn’t feel like basically calling the guy old to his face. To be fair, he did look really good for his age. Well, he was _Handsome_ Jack for a reason.

“—and so he tries to roundhouse me, right? So my hand goes for the nearest thing and—“ The man broke off in a fit of chuckles, arm that wasn’t looped under Rhys waving around as he tried to find his composure again. “—and it’s- it’s a friggin’ _dildo. A dildo!”_ He lost himself again, thoroughly laughing his ass off, and Rhys is chuckling and rolling his eyes at the man’s lack of maturity. “Biggest one I’d ever seen too, and I snatched that sucker right up and just _whammed_ him with it. He had a – hah! – he had a dick shaped mark on his face for the next _two hours!_ Hyperion parties, baby. I tell ya’.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Rhys hummed, amusedly, and Jack laughed back. “I almost miss Hyperion parties. It was nice to insult your drunk douchebag higher ups and have them not remember,” the kid snorted, and the older man did too. Not that he had higher ups anymore but … still.

“Yeah. Me too kiddo,” the brunette remarked, giving his arm a little squeeze. That’s when Rhys realized, and sighed at himself and his stupidity. He brought his cybernetic arm up, ready to hide his face before Jack was giving a quick tsk and moving his free hand to bat it away.

“Stop it with that already. It’s done. It’s over. Capisce? If I really cared about that anymore, don’t you think _I_ of all people would actually do something about it?” That was true, but apparently Jack still thought the younger was less than convinced by his expression. “You did what you had to do. Even I … Even I’ll admit that whole meatsuit thing was pretty fuckin’ weird. Namayaka, Nakayama, whatever the hell, he got some really crazy ideas going on in my head. When you plugged me into that pretty little brain of yours, I realized how much of a reality it was. But this is like a, like a new start for me, Rhysie. We can get back the peace. The order. We can get rid of all the bandits and thugs and not worry about the friggin’ vault hunters.”

Rhys just sort of … stared. He didn’t expect a speech like that to be pulled out from his boyfriend’s throat, and especially not this early in the damn morning. Despite the sentiment behind the whole thing, he couldn’t help but be skeptical when it came to the vault hunter statement. Jack? Not worrying about vault hunters? That’s what his whole past life had revolved around for _years._ And he’d magically throw that away? He wasn’t buying it, not at all. “Jack, I don’t think—“

He was silenced with lips prompt on his own, before the old Hyperion CEO was speaking up again.

“Sure, maybe I had plans to kill you in the most vicious way possible as soon as I’d woken up.” Rhys gulped. “But the second I saw you bawling your eyes out? Just ‘cause I was back? It … You’re a good kid,” he sighed. “Sassy as hell sometimes, but you … You mean a lot to me, Rhys. I’m not just gonna’ throw you away.”

Alright … so … speaking of… speaking of bawling. Needless to say, Rhys didn’t expect those words from his boyfriend. Yeah, that’s what he was, but still, this was _Handsome Jack._ He didn’t imagine he had to go over the reasons this was surprising, because he did it all the time, mostly in his head of course. The current CEO couldn’t help the whimper that escaped his throat as he tried to hide his face into the older man’s side, hide his welling up eyes and any other weakness that was probably showing through his expression, before Jack was turning towards him to cradle his arms around the slightly shorter male.

It was silent for the next five minutes or so, as far as words went, anyways. Rhys was sniffling and would curse at himself every now and then, and Jack would just snort in amusement while soothing a hand over the kid's back. It was fairly sweet, and when the auburn haired male had gotten his breath to stop hitching every few times, he was inhaling deeply and hugging an arm tight around the brunette's middle. 

"I kind of hate you sometimes," Rhys suddenly deadpanned, and the darker haired man erupted into a small fit of laughter, patting at the kid's back. 

"Nah. You totally love me," he snarked, and after a second, the young CEO could only nod in return. 

"Yeah. Yeah I do."

There was a second of hesitation then, on Jack's side. His hand stilled on his boyfriend's back, and if Rhys could see his face he'd assumed the guy would be blinking or cocking a brow or something of the sort. But he wasn't worried. This was Jack, after all, the cuddling was already pretty damn sentimental for him enough already. Soon the kid could feel the other relax again, and he gave a little grin as he pecked a kiss to a tanned chest, cuddling up into the other man's warmth with more than just a little satisfaction. 

Yeah. He had no reason to be worried. 

About half an hour later, the boys were up and out of bed to shower after they'd ordered their breakfast. There was a bit of a delay as they tried to figure out if they should take turns, but soon enough they'd decided to hop in together. It was an innocent intimacy -- or well ... As innocent as a pretty heated makeout session could get. But with Jack's hands on Rhys' hips, the latter man's hands carded through dark hair, tongues melding together perfectly to elicit more than just a few noises from either's lips, it didn't  _feel_  very innocent ... Oh well.

Eventually, they managed to get cleaned up and got some clothes on so that they could actually answer the door when the food got there, Rhys going through his Comm while Jack strolled the cart into the bedroom with a smirk. The auburn haired’s attention immediately shifted from the holographic screen to the older man when the sweet scent filled his nose, and not two seconds later he’d moved himself to the edge of the bed, ready to dig the hell in.

No surprise to Jack, the kid had ordered a fucking chocolate fountain. It’d come along with a bunch of fruits, nuts, marshmallows, or mini pastries to dip into the sweet stream, Rhys looking like a damned kid in a candy shop as he plopped this or that covered item into his mouth. After a minute of staring down his own meal, the brunette must have decided the hell with it and had his share of the childish breakfast choice too.

So maybe they’d smeared some of the chocolate here or there on each other’s necks and happily cleaned the messes up with their mouths, but soon enough they’d finished up and got ready for … well, for whatever the hell Jack had planned for them for the rest of the day.

“You brought your swim suit like I told you to, right cupcake? As much as I’d love to see you skinny dip it, I don’t think that’s very legal. Not that I care. But I’m sure you do,” the older remarked, hand waving in the air as if it were a dismissal for the man’s lack of balls. Figuratively, of course. Unless he mentioned what he’d been thinking about ever since their conversation at the restaurant last night. Then it might be literally. Who knows.

“Yeah, I’ve got them,” Rhys hummed back, already making his way to his bag at the foot of the bed as he said so. Jack followed along, pulling his own out from under the bed and setting it on top of the mattress to open it up, both having their swim trunks and whatever desired shirts on in no time, heading out of the hotel for the day. The auburn haired male was pretty curious as to where the hell they’d be finding any sort of beach on a planet like Eden-5, but … Well, he had enough faith in Jack to know he’d definitely have it figured out.

Sure enough, about forty minutes later, their once again embarrassingly decked out limo was pulling up to … a … dome? No, really. There was just some _huge_ white bubble sporting from the ground, and if Rhys furrowed his brows and harder he was going to have a permanent line on his forehead.

He heard a snort from behind him though, hand soon finding his cybernetic arm to tug him out of the vehicle and towards the ... Building? Was this a building? He didn't know. Which was only made obvious as Jack continued to cackle at him for his 'friggin' stupid face', aka his confused expression. 

"You've never been to an artificial beach before? Just wait. You're gonna' love it kiddo," the older man purred, soothing a hand down Rhys' back before he was - unlocking? Where did he even - and pushing a heavy white door open to reveal ...  _Oh_. 

If Rhys didn't know any better, he'd think they just stepped off one planet and onto another. It was amazing - like they'd found one of the tropical forests that you could only find in the rare and exclusive parts of Pandora. It made him giddy, biting back a smile as he glanced to Jack, who only smirked and locked the doors back up. He'd totally rented this place out, hadn't he? Holy hell. 

"How did you even find a place like this?" The shorter man questioned, as Jack lead them out from the path between the tall trees, and out the the wide, open beach. Rhys felt week in the knees, all butterflies and red cheeks like a teenager as he thought of the fact that it was Jack who had worked to get him here. It was just ... This was all just so nice. Was it even real? He didn't think he'd care either way anymore. 

"Well you see, small minded queen of mine," there went the romance, "I'm Handsome Jack. I kind of have access to like, anything I want. Anywhere." This was true. Okay. So maybe that had been a stupid question. Whatever. He was just excited, okay? Beside the already stated points, he hadn't been to a beach in  _forever_. Not for ... Well, four years maybe?

That had been … with Vaughn and Yvette. God, he wished they were here with him now. He’d try not to think about that, though. He had Jack, so it was okay. He could finally start regaining his friends again. He felt like he was really getting somewhere with Vaughn – they’d never fought for long no matter what the argument. But ... Fiona? That’d be a whole other story. He just hoped it’d be a story with a happy ending.

Obviously he hadn’t bothered responding to his boyfriend’s statement, simply following along until Jack told him to go find where he wanted to sit while the older man got some sand mats and whatever else from a small shack at the edge of the trees. Rhys noted, with much awe, that there were even birds flying around near the tree tops and the top of the dome, and the wall of the artificial beach was made to make the place look like it went on forever. Only reason anyone would be able to guess otherwise was the slight shimmer that ghosted up the wall every few minutes. He wondered what the water would be like – but he didn’t have to do too much guessing when he finally took a look, brown eyes flying open at the sight. The water was practically clear. Crystal clear. He could see the plants underwater, the beautiful sandy floor – even fish! This was … This was like some scenery-gasm. Is that a thing? Now it is.

“You gonna’ close that pretty little mouth of yours any time soon? Where we sitting, cupcake?” Right. Right, uh –

“Here’s fine,” Rhys murmured in response, successfully pressing his lips together after, but he didn’t move his eyes from the view. He heard a laugh a couple seconds later, before he was promptly being tugged down by a hand with a yelp. And damn was he glad there was sand underneath them, otherwise his butt would _definitely_ be bruised.

“Told ya’ you’d like it. What can I say, I’m always right,” the man shrugged smugly, and Rhys rolled his eyes. That definitely was not the truth. But he found it best not to say that part out loud.

They basked in the artificial sun for a while, talking about anything from how well skags could swim to Jack’s old body double, Timothy. And Rhys had to say … he wished he could’ve met him. He’d seemed like a sweet guy from all the information he’d gotten out of the Nakayama drive – minus, you know, having to live his life as a second Jack … Rhys could relate, though. That’s how he got his cybernetics after all, just a poor boy trying to make some damned money in this unforgiving shithole. It’d helped him get places, though – lord knows Hyperians hopped on a chance to hire a guy who was practically a walking Hyperion advertisement. He wished he could say the same for Tim … poor guy. But there really wasn’t anything else to be expected when you’re out there in combat as _Handsome Jack_. Especially not … Especially not with what was going on back then. Vault hunters and such …

And of course, just as Rhys thought it, Jack said it.

“Ohoh, then there’s that bitch Lilith. She’ll get what’s coming to her, baby. Soon as we get the Lance up and going again? Oh, there’s gonna’ be –“

“Jack – no. _No._ The Crimson Lance is having no part in that any more, not under my watch. No vaults, no vault hunters. I’m not going to argue about it with you because it’s already decided,” Rhys retorted, immediately regretting his spill of words, but at least they were out of the way now …

Risking a glance over to the older man, he wasn’t surprised at the expression he was met with. The old CEO had already shot up from his laying down position, now sitting with his body fully turned towards Rhys. His expression was… Terrifying. It wasn’t too different from when he’d been brought back, kid pinned to the floor and … it was slowly deteriorating any hopes the auburn haired man had had of this conversation going or ending well. “ _What_ did you just say to me?”

Rhys gulped. He couldn’t help it. He was trying to be strong. At least somewhat in control. But it wasn’t easy when Handsome Jack was staring him down like he was some sort of piece of meat ready to be torn apart by a skag. A very angry, very agitated, very hungry skag. “I’m- … You’re—“

Jack laughed. Not a genuine laugh. No, one of those laughs he’d always given when he was two seconds into having Hyperion’s cameras focused on himself while he vented somebody. One of those laughs that said, ‘are you really that fucking stupid?’

Right now, Rhys was definitely feeling stupid.

“You’re not that special, Rhysie. _Nobody_ is going to stop me from getting my revenge on those goddamned bandits. _Nobody!_ I don’t know what it is with you _people_ and trying to stop my plans, but you’d think you’d figure it out by now, you know? It doesn’t fucking work,” he hissed.

Rhys had always thought about what it’d be like when he ever had an argument like this with Jack. Sure, they bickered constantly, and yelled sometimes, but this? This was totally different. He was hoping he’d be more scared shitless than anything but … no. He was ... He was hurt. He wasn’t that special? And now he was being rallied into the same group as vault hunters. The people that effortlessly made Jack seethe. It … it made his chest ache.

“It’s not … You, you don’t need revenge, Jack. If we just leave it alone, the vault hunters—bandits, won’t even bother coming around. It’s that easy,” he said, hands raising in defeat as he tried to calm the man down, who was now looming over his younger man with obvious rage. This kid was definitely regretting not sitting up, because now … he was trapped. Absolutely trapped.

“Easy? Kiddo, you obviously don’t know these guys. They stop at nothing. They’re _stupid._ They’ll try to reel in any catch they can just to destroy any ounce of anything that I’ve worked for. And you know what? The second they think up a useless little plan, they’ll be at Altas’ doorstep. What do you think you’re gonna’ do then? You think some simple security guards are gonna’ help anything?”

“We can give them as much training as they need! Just because they aren’t killing themselves over vaults doesn’t mean they won’t be powerful anymore,” Rhys tried to reason, but Jack’s shake of the head told him it hadn’t meant much.

“You just don’t get it, Rhysie. Once we get back to Atlas, let me take the wheel for a while. Let me show you how the big kids play, mkay?” He hummed, his voice a mix of sarcasm and spite that made Rhys want to go drown himself. At this point he was pretty sure Jack would do it for him, especially when his cybernetic hand reached out unconsciously to pull the man back when he tried to stand up. The younger male hadn’t even gotten the chance to sit up all the way when he was slammed back down again, rough hands tight against his throat, keeping any air out of his system. Well wasn’t this just familiar.

He let out a choked whimper when Jack leaned close, devious smirk piercing his lips, which was probably more alarming than a frown. One hand left his neck to travel upwards, and in slight - okay, frenzied - panic Rhys’ hands were moving up to grasp at the older man’s tattooed arm. He tried to act as unfazed as possible when the brunette’s free hand thumbed at his bottom lip, but he probably wasn’t doing very well. Who could fucking blame him?

“You know, you are real cute, babe. But you’re just like the rest of ‘em. Stupid. No brain in that pretty little head of yours,” he murmured, almost seeming to look Rhys over thoughtfully, who was desperately gasping for any air now, might he add. And Jack continued talking, too – muttering consistencies about how disappointing Rhys was being right now and how he expected better out of the kid. The CEO was losing it, though – his vision was blacking out and his lungs were burning, and he was just _praying_ that he would not die like this, he could _not_ die like this. After everything he worked for, he couldn’t have the man he’d brought back from the dead return the favor in the opposite way.

“Maybe after a nice little nap, you’ll have your head on straight again, huh? C’mon. Just relax, Rhysie. Daddy’s got you covered,” the man purred, which really, wasn’t comforting at all. But it’s not like Rhys had a choice, gasps and whimpers soon fading off and brown eyes slipped shut, and before the darkness took him he’d see that wolfish smirk fall.

Some vacation this was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry lmao. At least this chapter came a little faster? And is longer? -cough-


	7. Conflicted

Rhys woke up with a start. Which he fucking regretted, by the way, because his head and his chest _ached_ and as soon as he’s sat up, his brain felt like it was being ripped in two and he was quickly being pushed back by – what? Small hands, definitely had to be a woman’s, which was only confirmed when a soft voice sounded off next to him. He’d turned his head over to get a look at her, try to read her lips to make out the words his ears were too busy ringing to hear, but that’s when he realized … he … he couldn’t see? What – his vision was pitch black, even his cybernetic eye, which was fucking terrifying, and his breath was hitching before he could even tell himself to calm down. And why did his right side feel so light – wait – where was his arm?

“Sir,” incoherent mumbling, “-down. You passed-“ What? He couldn’t understand her. “-lie down and relax.”

“I-I can’t see,” he croaked pathetically, instantly set into a coughing fit at the action that had him hurting everywhere all over again. Fuck – tears were pricking as the corners of his eyes from the mix of emotions and all the coughing, and even the soft hand soothing auburn hair back and out of his face after he laid down wasn’t calming him any.

“That’s alright, that’s normal under your circumstance,” the woman informed, and Rhys breathed a painful sigh of relief as his hearing had already flooded back to him. His eyes were still wandering around uselessly though, trying to find an outline of something, _anything,_ but it was to no avail. “It should be back within the hour, so don’t worry about it so much. We’ve also got your cybernetics shut down to make sure no damage was done there, and everything came back negative, so I’ll turn those back on for you now if you’d like,” she offered, and the male gave a single, slow nod in return.

It took a few minutes for the nurse, he assumed, to help him get his arm back on properly, easily voicing her through what pieces to pin where and which hinges she should clip together first to make it easiest. He had to sit up for that, but she’d promised him some fresh pain meds for after so he dubbed it just fine with him. His vision was even returning, though barely, since he could only see the faintest of blurs where light must be resonating off of machinery screens, and obviously, the ceiling. Next the girl was pulling a cord from his port, cybernetic eye quickly whirring back to life and furthering his sight even more, as well as bringing feeling back to his robotic arm, in which he experimentally flexed his fingers. Well, at least all of this was looking good …

His throat was bruised into the next god damn century, he knew that much. Every simple noise he made, every deep breath, every wrong turn of the head made him feel like his jugular was being sliced. Not by any normal blade though – something thick, something burning, something dull sided – a slow and painful wrenching that made his gut twist unpleasantly. Jack had done this to him. For the second time. In all fairness, the first time didn’t count to the younger man. That was … it was slightly reasonable. But now? This? He didn’t know what he’d do when time came to see Jack again. If the time came. Maybe he’d chosen to abandon Rhys and take Atlas for himself. Maybe he’d abandoned Atlas altogether and was getting ready to find an army and take the corporation down. Nah. Overtaking the company definitely sounded more Handsome Jack-like.

Speaking of things that sounded like Handsome Jack. The CEO jolted in his hospital bed which, he’d learned, was in the reserved floor of Med Bay, the medical facility at Atlas’ main building. He heard the footsteps – heavy, sure, quick paced, and he knew exactly who it was that was about to walk through the door of his hospital room. He cut off the conversation he had going with the nurse – Scout – lips parted slightly mid-word as he lay there on his side, one hand tucked under his pillow while the other rested near his head.

“What is – why the fuck didn’t you tell me he was awake?” The brunette inquired as he pushed himself into the room, and the girl that had been so seemingly confident before was now resorted to a shaking heap of stutters. He couldn’t blame her, since he was in the same damn boat, brown eyes glued to the illuminated parts of the floor that weren’t just gray blobs of shadow to his still recovering eyes. As if his throat wasn’t bad enough already, there was now a lump there that he just couldn’t swallow down. He felt sick.

“I just – I had to check on his vitals, s-sir, and make sure there was no extra damage or—“

“You know what – just get out before I put a bullet through your brain,” he hissed, as Rhys was slowly curling upon himself, tucking his face against his arm and the thin mattress as if willing himself to disappear. He couldn’t do this. He couldn’t handle it. He didn’t want Jack around, not right now. He didn’t want the inevitable end to their relationship and everything good they had going to be inevitable. He wanted them to be happy. Was that really that much to ask? Hearing the quick clicks of heeled shoes bolting from the room, he knew he was doomed.

“Rhys – Rhysie. Look at me,” Jack pushed, as his voice shifted from something feral to something much tamer, though still demanding nonetheless. Rhys didn’t listen, though – burying his face even further into his feigned safety, biting down harshly on his bottom lip when it quivered. He wanted the man to leave, but he was smarter than just telling him that.

He heard the older man walking closer, and he prayed to whatever god was out there for Jack to finish him off quickly and silently, not being able to handle any more torment. The shuffling of fabric suggested the male had crouched down next to the metal bars of his bed though, and Rhys gave more than just a little jump when he felt a large hand sooth over his hair, shushed when a small noise slipped past his sore throat.

“Shh – it’s okay, baby, you’re fine. It’s fine,” Jack murmured, and Rhys wanted to ask why the _fuck_ the guy thought that would work when _he_ was the one that did this to Rhys in the first place, but that really didn’t amount to much when he felt his shoulders tensing if only the smallest bits less at the small pets to his hair. The older man being by his side was just welling up too many emotions, too many for the kid to handle, and despite the protests of his aching body he was quickly falling into a pit of half-restrained sobs.

Neither said anything past Rhys' little cries, Jack just petting at unstyled locks softy, surprisingly patient about the whole thing. After a few long minutes he'd given a demanding little coo again for the younger male to come out of hiding, and gave a sigh when nothing still came out of it. 

"Kitten, c'mon. I know you aren't gonna' take me seriously if you can't even look at me," he beckoned, and a few of Rhys' muscles twitched undecidedly, as if he meant to push his arms up a little and lift his head, but he dubbed it useless for the most part and instead went with peeking puffy brown eyes out from behind his flesh arm. "How ya' feeling, princess? You okay?"

Rhys really didn't get why Jack was even asking. Of course he wasn't okay. His boyfriend had just - or well, however long ago that was - strangled him until he passed out. His boyfriend who was now sitting in front of him acting like the most concerned partner in the galaxy. It didn't make sense, but he supposed most things in his life didn't make sense anymore. Did Jack obtain some cursed bipolar disorder when he'd been reanimated? Damn. 

"I'm ... I feel shitty," he murmured, shifting himself just a little bit so he wasn't completely curled in anymore. His voice was hoarse - it had been a little off anyways thanks to the state of his throat, but it was even more so now from the crying. Jack was quickly glancing around at that, finding a glass of water in no time which he passed over. The auburn haired man had to sit up a little, taking a few painful gulps that might have even had the brunette nonadmittedly wincing before the container was set to the side again. Swallowing it down _hurt_  - but it felt like a relief to finally have some fluids in him. “How long was I out, anyways?”

There was a pause at that, and Rhys glanced over with furrowed brows to see Jack pursing his lips. Oh, isn’t that just great? Best reaction he could have hoped for. When the kid stared at the older man expectantly, he’d even averted blue and green eyes before speaking up. “Twelve days. Almost two weeks, kiddo,” the man answered, looking to the kid again for a reaction. And a reaction he got.

The CEO didn’t hesitate to sit up, ignoring the pain and the flush of dizziness that followed. Two weeks? He’d been out for two weeks? What had – was Jack taking care of Atlas that whole time? Fuck. He could have done _anything –_ he could have done anything and deleted any evidence of it being done. Sure, Rhys was a great hacker, one of the best, but against Handsome Jack? That guy probably knew every trick in the book, and if he did do anything suspicious Rhys knew he wasn’t stupid enough to do too much through any sort of Echo, where all of it could be recited and tracked. He could have went out to the middle of the Pandoran desert for all the kid knew, where no cameras or microphones would find him.

Rhys couldn’t breathe.

He glanced down to his flesh arm, cybernetic one reaching over to rip any cords out from under his skin, legs swinging to the side of the mattress so he could hop down. He ignored Jack’s protests – until he was more than just forced to listen, two large hands cupping at his face and steering his gaze in the brunette’s direction. He didn’t say anything at first, just waited for Rhys to still and for his shoulder to become a little less tense, voice as stern as his expression when he finally spoke up.

“Look. I know you have zero reason to trust me right now. I get that. But I – just do it anyways. We’re ‘til death do us part, baby, okay? You want proof? I had your buddy Vaughn keeping watch on me almost every minute I had my glorious ass in the office. Hell, he even came to the house once. He’s a fucking dweeb like you – but, but that doesn’t matter right now! The point is, I want you to trust me. I need you to. I know what I did was shit, but I think I had a good god damn reason to be pissed. But we’ll talk about that later,” Jack finally finished with a sigh, and after a good minute of silence, Rhys meekly nodded.

“I just … I want to go home,” he murmured, eyes lowering from the older man’s, though with the guy's hands on his face the lowest he could comfortably look at the moment was around the old Hyperian’s collar. "Please..?" 

Jack had sucked in a breath, obviously thinking about his answer before he was pulling back with a sigh. "Yeah, c'mon. But if anything seems wrong we're bringing you right back here, got it?" The older inquired, and when Rhys gave a nod the brunette was going to find a fresh pair of clothes - had Jack brought those here at some point? After the kid had changed and earned numerous objections from a different nurse than before, Jack had sworn her off and they were out of the medical wing.

The elevator ride back down to the ground floor was quiet, as well as the ride back to the penthouse. Just like three weeks ago, Jack was innocently helping Rhys strip down before they’d even made it to the bedroom. The older man didn’t follow along this time, though – not at first, but when Rhys’ footsteps came to a slow stop and he peeked back at the taller man, he was met with a quick expression of confusion.

“Are you, uh … Do you even want me in there kiddo?” He questioned, cocking a brow slightly as he held a hand up in gesture. Rhys was hesitant, to be honest, though that was probably more than just a little normal or figured given the situation. He glanced down at his fiddling fingers, eyeing his IV bruise while he thought, before glancing to his boyfriend – Jack still wanted to date him, right? – again.

“Yeah,” the younger male had agreed simply, and a grin had flashed over Jack’s face before he was making his way over. The hand that took his own flesh one was almost tentative, before they were continuing on their way to the bedroom, the old CEO not even bothering to remove any of his own clothing before they were both under the false safeness of the duvet. Jack’s arm were secure around Rhys, the latter’s face buried into his boyfriend’s neck where he took in any scent of him he could get. He needed this. He needed him. It didn’t make any fucking sense, but he couldn’t exactly help what he was feeling. Would he … Would he even want it to be different if he had the chance? Probably, but … That didn’t mean he was about to start actually asking for anything different. This was Jack. His Jack. And he didn’t want that any other way.

Rhys was ready to doze off, amazed how he could still be exhausted after being out of it for two weeks, but before he got the chance he was feeling lips press to the side of his hairline. As cheesy as it was, the soft rumble in Jack’s chest as he began to speak up was oddly comforting, and the kid was snuggling further into the warmth as he listened in.

“I know I let my special boy down, so … How do you want me to make it up to ya’, Rhysie? I’ll do anything. I mean, mostly anything. Nothing like – just, what do you want?” Jack sighed, and Rhys couldn’t hold back his small snort of amusement. At least he was trying.

The CEO didn’t know how the hell to answer that, though. How the hell could Jack make up for strangling the shorter man? Obviously Rhys wasn’t asking for another vacation. He wouldn’t admit his disappointment in the outcome, either. Maybe he could ask Jack to take half of their already split up workload? No, he’d already had to do two weeks’ worth or work alone … Maybe … Maybe uh … sexual favors …? Actually, that one wasn’t totally out of the question. He’d think about it.

“I dunno’ …” He murmured in response, giving the weakest shrug ever followed by a little breath. It was the truth, anyways, besides that one little idea. But he wasn’t completely into asking anything like that when they hadn’t even done … _it,_ yet. Well, they actually hadn’t done anything sexual, which Rhys found _weird,_ because this was Handsome Jack, the king of flirting, but ... whatever. Jack was definitely the last person he ever saw as the ‘make it special’ kind of guy, but he wasn’t complaining.

“That’s not very friggin’ helpful kiddo,” Jack scoffed, and Rhys let out a laugh, which quickly died down due to the pain it caused. “Alright, alright, sleep on it I guess. But I want an answer by Friday,” the older huffed, and the auburn haired had to take a second to determine it was Wednesday at the moment, giving a little nod of agreement.

The kid was reminded of something, though. He peeked his eyes open, and shuffled back a little, wanting to get a good look at Jack’s face. He guessed this wasn’t really _that_ important, he just … he was curious. Part of him felt like he needed to know. “How did, uh … How was Vaughn about all this? I mean, did you tell him..?” Rhys questioned, and Jack crinkled his nose a little, probably not find of the topic when things were going okay right now, but he didn’t outwardly protest.

“’Course I told him. He’s your best guy. I dunno’, I mean … how would _anybody_ react when Handsome Jack’s sayin’ he choked your buddy out to your face? He bitched about it a little but I doubt he would have helped me if he totally didn’t trust me. What was he like, A class paranoid freak?” Jack commented, and Rhys gave a nod of agreement. “So yeah, he knows. Everything. He knows about us too but he said he kinda’ figured that one already,” the man snorted, and the younger male was feeling his face heat up. He guess he didn’t make it much of a surprise.

Rhys felt a few more kisses being placed to his forehead, cheekbones, nose, and lastly his lips, before he was hiding his face away against Jack again with a mostly content sigh. He just wanted to forget about everything else. Stay like this. Not worry about anything negative that might have went on or, maybe, will still go on. He was conflicted, in the least. Part of him wanted to push Jack away right now, tell him off and maybe even send him back to where he’d gotten him from – and the other part of him wanted to be right here, right now, just like this.

For now, he was definitely sticking with the latter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO FOLLOW MY INSTAGRAM. (@nicerhack) I know a lot of you talk to me frequently, which is why for those of you who follow this story lemme say this - my phone has finally succumbed to its shittiness. Moral of the story is I can't do anything with it until further notice, so I promise I'm not ignoring you. <33 Hopefully it'll start working soon, if not, I'll be getting a new one this weekend.


	8. Important!!

I am so sorry I haven't updated!! As you guys saw I had a major lack of laptop - still the case, there hasn't been a single move to fix it and I'm pissed okay. I do have the chapters all started up on my phone in notes, but I get distracted enough as is on the laptop. On my phone it's nearly impossible to keep myself writing let alone get in there at all. I promise I am not abandoning this or any or my fics!! It's going to be a slow process but I promise you updates will come. I'd say we have 3-4 chapters left of this fic, so stay tuned!! Again, I'm sorry!


	9. GOOD NEWS!

Hello guys! It's been forever I know I am so sorry. But, not anymore! I'm going to get my laptop today, which has finally been fixed! Now I'll have all the chapters and data and prompts I lost, so I'll be able to continue as I had been! Again, I'm so sorry that this ever happened. I know it can be irritating to try and figure out what happened in the last chapters just so you can read the newest one. Hopefully I'll even have a new actual chapter out today, although I can't promise it'll be from this fic. This seems to be my most popular fic so I'd figure I'd post it here.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Restoring a little trust.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YOOOO HELLOOOO. Guys I almost cried I'd been almost done with this chapter and then moral of the story is a lost everything. ;w; BUT luckily I was able to find autosaves and tada! I could get this out to you tonight!

Friday rolled around about as fast as a year, yet Rhys still didn't have any ideas for what Jack could possibly do to repay him. Any small clues he did have just seemed petty in comparison to what was being made up for in the first place, but he supposed that's what he was going to have to settle for anyways. Really, he didn't think it'd be a good idea to actually want something serious in return anyways. Just as an example, maybe if he asked Handsome Jack to ... He didn't know, hand over his position for the next month. Just to be safe, to make sure he didn't have any plans that would spoil over that amount of time. He didn't think Jack would appreciate it though, not being trusted to that extent, which probably should set off a lot of alarms, but not to Rhys. Rhys knew Jack like nobody else did. He knew that the guy wasn't great with emotions like kindness or affection or dare he say love, but he could see how hard the once Hyperian was trying, and that was enough.

Or at least … he hoped.

The CEO licked some strawberry sauce from his fingers as he watched Jack work around the kitchen, brows furrowing as he scanned over the mess of dishes and ingredients scattered about the room. Jack wasn’t usually an unorganized person, especially not when it came to something as trivial as cooking. But for some reason, since Thursday morning, the brunette hadn’t shut up about his urge to bake something … _Bake._ Handsome Jack baking. And no, Rhys wasn’t talking about some petty teenage drugs either. Baking, like food, cookies and pies and pastries and – it was just really weird, but at least he’d gotten about a week’s worth of dessert for breakfast.

Yeah, ever since Rhys’ two weeks awakening, Jack hadn’t hesitated to stuff him full. Of _nutrients, proteins, carbs,_ not anything else … you know.

But right, baking. The brunette had a permanent seeming crease between his brows as he worked, and Rhys was extremely tempted to walk over and poke at the thing to make it go down. His eyes roamed over Jack's body - he was clad in a Hyperion issued apron that he only owned to add to his collection, because who wore aprons anymore? This grandma, apparently - he was glad they didn't have that telepathy or whatever that the older man had always wanted otherwise he’d... Probably be dead right now. 

After watching Jack start to get to work on mixing another batch of batter up, Rhys was huffing out a breath and standing from his seat, making his way over to grab up flour-covered hands before they could pick up anything else. "Okay - I cannot do this. Watching you stir through a bowl like you're mashing at the remains of the damned is giving me a headache," he groaned, lacing their fingers together as he shot the man a concerned look. "And dammit - stop furrowing your brows, old men get creases." 

"Uh. Excuse you," Jack scoffed, squinting at the auburn haired man and glancing down to their hands before looking to the mess of food and ingredients he'd spread over the counters. "I'm just trying to bake for ya', Christ. And I dunno', you could give some to your buddies or something," the brunette shrugged, and he seemed to hesitant before he was pulling their hands apart, just to place his on Rhys' hips instead and pull him in. "Never thought you'd complain to some sweets, kiddo'. I've seen the way you take down a tub of ice cream - guess I was wrong," he snorted.

Rhys gawked at the older man, tempted to pry himself from the hold before deciding to his give the guy's chest a faulty smack. It only made Jack laugh again, and the CEO was pouting. "I'm going to burn all of your cooking supplies."

"First of all, ya' can't burn metal, dumbass. Second, this is all your shit, remember? Anyways, if you're forgetting, I'm friggin' loaded. A few little kitchen toys are gonna' hurt my bank account any." 

The shorter male paused, eyeing the other over silently before giving an exasperated sigh. "You know - fine. You do what you're doing, I'm getting ready for - oh my god," he interrupted himself, staring at the other's torso before glancing to his own hands and then down to Jack's. Flour. Flour handprints everywhere. "You're lucky I'm in pajamas."

The old Hyperian blinked curiously, looking them over before barking out a laugh, smirk spreading over his lips. "Yeah well, you're lucky that's the only white stuff I've got on you," he chuckled, and earning a thoroughly flushed face from the younger male, they pulled apart so that Jack could get to work on cleaning up. "Lucky you're straight outta' the hospital too, otherwise I'd be pinning and dousing ya' in this shit right now."

Rhys didn't think he was ... Lucky that he'd been choked out by his boyfriend but uh... Whatever. He guessed that was just him. He'd keep it to himself, anyways. Leaving the room silently, he slipped into his sleek black uniform, making sure his hands were flour free beforehand, before making his way towards the living room. By the time he'd changed and styled his fluffy auburn waves, Jack had seemed to clean everything up from the kitchen, get into an Atlas sweater, package some muffins, and stand himself at the front door. And Rhys thought he'd been quicker styling his hair back this time. 

"I think you take longer to get ready than my ex-wife," the man snorted, and the CEO's eyes had winded, not expecting the little reference to the past. It'd taken him a second to come up with any form of reply, just giving a huff and straightening out his clothes as he led them out the door. 

"Can't have a CEO who looks like they dressed themselves out of a trash can," he grumbled, sending the older man a look. He was clearly referencing to Jack's old Hyperion sweater he'd always worn on Helios - they'd argued about it many a time ... Stitched patches? So out of trend. 

"Can't have one who looks like a blind fashion designer dressed 'em either," the taller man shot back, and with a roll of the eyes Rhys decided it was best just to ignore it. 

They made it to Atlas with slightly less bickering, and the nervousness was kicking in. He was remembering the reality... The dangers that could be lurking every corner now that Jack had had the company as his playground for two weeks. Swallowing thickly, he glanced around the large office as they entered, as if looking around for... He didn't know. Traps, enemies, something. Maybe he was being paranoid, maybe not. Handsome Jack was ... Not a predictable man. Especially not when it came to the prospect of dating. He expected a horny, arrogant, narcissistic, and all of the above asshole. And instead he got ... Slow make out sessions and ... Actually super cute comments and ... Waiting for 'special' sex and uh ... Strangling but, the last one was beside the point. Totally. 

"You doin' okay Rhysie? If you still think it's too early then-"

"I'm fine, Jack. Just not ready to be a working man again," he tried to pass off with a huff and a small grin, and it seemed to get the job done well enough when the older man was patting at the small of his back with a nod and leading him towards the ... Uh ... What? That was not his desk - alright then. The style was the same, but the length had increased by about a yard, and there was a second chair standing proud next to his own. The color was a bright orange, thank god it wasn't yellow, and seemed to contrast nicely with the rest of the room. Well ... He guessed he  ... Didn't have a reason to complain. It was actually ... Really nice. Hmm. 

"Great, isn't it? More room to work around here - and I mean, double the desk space? Double the room to get frisky," the man smirked, and Rhys threw his hands up in defeat. Damn him for thinking things could be romantic. 

He stalked over to their work space and sat himself down in his own chair, glancing over all the papers that'd been moved around, and then flipping through the Echo computer to see if any new files had popped up. Obviously, being a CEO, he had ... Quite the abundance of emails to deal with after being out of it for almost three weeks by now. Fantastic. He heaved a sigh, glancing to Jack with a 'this is your fault and you know it' look, to which the guy was just shrugging in return and sitting himself down in the chair opposite. 

Jack seemed to understand all of the work the younger had to get to at least, and only exchanged words if Rhys needed input or if Jack offered to do this or that for the kid, since the brunette was caught up on everything of his own share. Naturally he was told that he owed the co-CEO, a wink and a smirk to follow, in which the shorter would flush and roll his eyes with a huff.

Not that he was uh ... rejecting it. It did sound like something to pass the time, you know? They could make it a quick ten minutes and - right, anyways. 

The work day was quite uneventful. No Fiona barging through his door, no shooting people, no mental breakdowns. Just him and Jack, working, exchanging words, occasionally bumping knees. Honestly, it was nice. This is what he'd wanted all along - keeping in mind that Jack was his was just a plus. A rather large plus, if you asked him. As long as it wasn't Jack asking.

"Oi. Did you wanna' go grab some grub on the way home?" Jack inquired, as he pushed his chair back away from his desk and crossed his arms behind his head.

"What? Two weeks of not having any of my cooking and you realized how good life was without it?" Rhys snorted in return, hand on his hip as he waited expectantly for Jack to get up off his ass so they could go. He earned a chuckle in return, a quick shake of the head, and hesitation before two large hands were patting at Jack's lap in gesture.

"No. I love your housewife meals. But ... I figured you could use a little spoiling, ya' know? A little wine 'em and dine 'em," the man smirked in response, giving a little wiggle of the brows. Rhys squinted suspiciously before approaching, carefully seating himself in the guy's lap, made easier by how ridiculously large this chair of his was. He had to admit, though, being in Handsome Jack's /lap/, in his 'throne' at that, was more than a little exciting. 

He was ready to agree to his boyfriend's offer, because really, who wouldn't, but ... mm. He found himself a bit distracted as two hands came to rest on his hips, mismatched eyes looking him over rather keenly. 

Oh.

Rhys licked his lips, though he himself couldn’t even decipher it between a nervous habit or an accidental gesture after thinking about what those lips might feel like again instead. It seemed to amuse Jack enough though, his smirk quirking even more at the ends before one of his hands was traveling up to the back of the CEO’s head to pull him in.

It was tentative, to start, but that didn’t last long. Rhys was more than willing to part his lips for the brunet not ten seconds later, his own hands coming up to either side of Jack’s face, fingertips brushing through the guy’s hair just slightly. He’d shifted some, as if trying to shuffle even closer to his coworker, chests pressed up against one another but hips kept a safe distance apart. For now.

They were pulling back to huff out breaths before Rhys knew it, previously closed eyes now cracking open to meet quietly. Jack’s lips were like fucking heaven – or hell – although he found it irritating that he could never manage to kiss that damned smirk off his face. He’d get him, someday. Catch the guy off guard. And he didn’t doubt that Jack wouldn’t appreciate it, so.

“This is not getting out of here and heading towards home …” Rhys murmured matter-of-factly though the way he eyed up his boyfriend’s lips didn’t exactly suggest that he was too eager to move away from this fine seat of his. Jack snorted, rolled his eyes, and pressed another lingering kiss to the kid’s lips before pulling back with a cocked brow.

“Ya’ don’t exactly look like you’re in a state of being out in public, Princess … but, I’d be perfectly fine with eating _you_ at home,” Jack chuckled, earning a flush and a nose crinkle from the shorter man.

“I’ll pass,” Rhys commented, hesitating a few moments before he got to work on climbing off of the co-CEO. He was momentarily halted with a butt grope, before Jack let him continue on his way, soon following his ‘creator’ along out of the doors of Atlas.

They actually did end up deciding against the idea of eating out tonight – Rhys had thanked the man for the offer but explained that he was too exhausted after his first day back to try and prolong this night any further. Out in public, anyways. He didn’t mind the two of them relaxing together back at the penthouse.

Today, when they got back home, Rhys was lead to the bedroom. It’d caused an excited, nervous twist in his stomach, which only grew stronger when Jack began stripping him out of his clothes and kissing at his neck. He kept in mind the fact that Jack said they wouldn’t do anything until he found the right occasion – which was a damn shame, because those lips that worked fucking wonders had him tilting his head from side to side, his own lips parting to give a gasp or needy little whimper in return.

“My, my, Rhysie. You keep getting touchier and touchier each day,” Jack snorted, nibbling a line up to the younger’s ear. Said desperate male gave a huff, hands tugging gently at the other’s clothes in retaliation. As if it could even be called that, honestly.

“Shut up. You’re the one that won’t man the hell up already and give it to me,” Rhys grumbled back, a pout coming to his lips that the taller couldn’t help but place a kiss at.

“Yeah, yeah. If you keep bitching about it you’re never going to get laid,” Jack joked, pulling the shorter in the direction of the bed. He pushed him down, and didn’t hesitate to crawl up the boy’s side, the rest of their clothes being discarded in the whole process. Well, most of their clothes anyways, Rhys noted, as his pout only increased with a furrowed brow.

But, ah – he found himself soothed as kisses were peppered across his face, brown eyes slipping shut as a content little sigh slipped past his lips. If they could just stay right here like this forever, that’d be great. He tucked his head against one if the pillows as Jack brought the comforter over them, peeking his eyes open to examine his boyfriend’s features. It was a bit weird, thinking about the whole mask thing. Hell, he totally forgot sometimes if he were being honest. The little hinges here or there were the only hints given, and Rhys brought a hand up so his fingers could trace over the piece covering Jack’s chin. He kind of liked it – it was one of the million things that made Jack different from everybody else out there. Seriously, how many people out there had a mask of their own handsome ass face? Nobody. He was fucking unique, that was for sure, but …

Rhys still wanted to see what it was that forced him to have such a unique appearance in the first place.

He licked his lips, thumb brushing over the paper thin edge of the mask. He could see from the edges of his vision that Jack was looking him over curiously – brows quirked and eyes just slightly squinted as an arm wrapped around the younger man to pull him in just a bit closer.

“Uh … I think I … know what I want, in return for…” The kid trailed off, knowing Jack would get the point without him having to say it. He still didn’t seem to get the hint on what the payment was though, an arm moving up to support his head as he glanced down towards Rhys.

“Yeah? What’s that, baby boy?”

Rhys cleared his throat, took a breath. Why was he so nervous all of a sudden? Right, because this was Handsome Jack, and he was going to demand something personal from him. _Extremely_ personal. Someone that anyone else would get killed for simply for asking. Hell, maybe he’d get killed for it – maybe he should think of something else. This was all a bad idea anyways, he really didn’t need anything in return and—

“I, I want to see your face. Your real face. Or – just, I want to see what’s under your mask,” the CEO stuttered out pathetically. Way to go, Rhys.

There was a lot of silence, on both ends. A lot.  Jack’s gaze moved between both of Rhys’ eyes, and then the rest of his face, and then flicked off from one random direction to the next. He wasn’t pissed off, so that was a good sign, right? Right, he hoped. He didn’t retract his hand, just moved it a little lower, resting over the side of the older’s neck with his thumb brushing over his pulse and throat idly.

Ah, his heartbeat was picking up. He’d almost find it cute, if the situation were a bit different.

“Ya’ just had to go and pick that,” Jack responded, finally, and by some relief the tone of his voice was almost fond. _Fond_. Rhys was pretty sure he’d died and went to heaven. He didn’t really know how to respond to that though, still a bit nervous, as his jaw bobbed a few times. The brunet snorted, leant in, and placed a shut up kiss to Rhys’ lips before he could manage to embarrass himself. “Tell ya’ what. On that special night of ours coming up, I’ll show you then, capisce? Not right now, though. Don’t wanna’ give my kitten any nightmares before bed,” he said sarcastically, and the auburn haired male offered a look between scolding and sympathetic.

“Okay,” he murmured back, satisfied for now, as he shifted and nuzzled his face up under Jack’s chin with a sigh. The older was still for a moment before he finally settled, the both of them soon closing their eyes and basking gloriously in the presence of one another.

“’Night, Jack.”

“G’night, cupcake. Don’t have too many wet dreams about me.”

“Shut up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanservice chapter ya'll <3 They're getting sappier and sappier as we go ahhh


End file.
